My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the Lord. “And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine. For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.”
—Isaiah 55:8-9
His thoughts are not my thoughts. They are higher than anything I might imagine. His ways are also beyond the ability of my human mind to conceive. God is spiritual, and I am human. His mind is supernatural, and mine is natural. Two minds are at war within man, and until the spiritual mind of God outweighs the human mind of man, there is no peace.
“If any of you lacks wisdom,” James wrote, “you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do” (James 1:5-8, NIV).
God grants wisdom when I ask. He grants His mind and His higher thoughts when I ask. However, when I ask God for His thoughts—when I request His wisdom—I must ask in faith, or I doubt His ability to provide the very thing for which I ask. If I am double-minded and unstable, I should not expect to receive His wisdom. I should not expect to see beyond the limitation of my human mind consumed with fear or worry.
“Who can know the Lord’s thoughts?” believers in Corinth asked Paul. “We understand these things,” Paul affirmed, “for we have the mind of Christ” (2 Corinthians 2:16b, NLT). Two minds are present in each believer. One will be more prevalent than the other and eventually outweigh the ability of the other to control my thoughts. If I respond to what I physically see, hear, and feel, then the spiritual mind of Christ will not grow stronger and impart greater faith to believe. However, if it is the spiritual mind of Christ I seek—if it His thoughts I want—if it is His truth I desire, His mind will take precedent, and I will have greater faith to believe. I will see with His eyes, hear with His ears, and understand His thoughts with my mind.
Is this too radical? Is this too impossible? No, it is not. Grace is a radical truth that makes no sense to the human mind. Why would the God of creation give His life for me? Why would He love me so much? It makes little sense to a double-minded man who has trouble believing in the faithfulness of God. To the spiritually-minded man, grace is abundant living. It is joy without comparison. It is believing in what the world cannot acknowledge—the mercy of an unconditional love that never judges, but loves with reckless abandon.
© 2018 Lynn Lacher
www.lynnlacher.com/2018/11/my-thoughts.html
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