His Ways

There are people who want things done a certain way. It’s the way they like it. It is the way they believe it should be. I came across a man who liked his books and he liked them organized in a certain way. His name was Abdul Kassem Ismael, the scholarly grand-vizier of Persia in the tenth century. He had a library of 117,000 volumes. On his many travels as a warrior and statesman, he never parted with his beloved books. There were carried amazingly by 400 camels, trained to walk in alphabetical order no less! His camel-driver librarians could put their hands instantly on any book their master asked for. That man liked things done a certain way, didn’t he? This amazing story points out the fact we all already know— You have your ways, and I have my ways. And guess what? Jesus has His ways too. And we are made in His image.

Hosea 14.9 says— “Who is wise, and he shall understand these things? prudent, and he shall know them? for the ways of the Lord are right, and the just shall walk in them: but the transgressors shall fall therein.” He has His ways, and they are right. They are not just different…they are right. When researching the topic I stumbled on a survey of 500 hundred people who were asked this question: How should God work? Their answers are very eye opening. Here they are in descending order: 5) God should work “always”— He is always working, but not to reassure you while He is. They are seeking constant confirmation. They think it should be like it was yesterday, and last time. Nothing should change and therefore reduce the stress of trusting; 4) God should work “fast”— They think if they prayed this morning, they should see some movement by 2 o’clock; 3) God should work “on demand”— They see God as a McDonald’s drive thru. I ordered at the window, I put in my order, why is it not in the bag?; 2) God should work “big and loud”— They expect Elijah-style Mt Carmel moments all the time. Forgetting that in that case God said specifically that He was in the ‘still small voice’; And the most surveyed answer 1) God should work by “not allowing suffering”— Their thematic prayer life is simply put as: Don’t make it hard, don’t let it go sideways, I don’t want to have any pain or inconvenience. 

Don’t kid yourself, you think this way too, at least a little bit. But In the book of Isaiah, God is speaking directly, through Isaiah. In chapter 55, verses 6-9, clearly speak from God’s own mouth— “Seek ye the Lord while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near: Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.” Could He make it any clearer? We are not like Him. He is transcendently infinite in ways we can’t even comprehend. We though are limited and finite. 

Rarely do I write out an entire text of scripture, but the text given is 2 Kings 4.1-7. It literally speaks for itself. Read it please, then I’ll make some application. 

“Now there cried a certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets unto Elisha, saying, Thy servant my husband is dead; and thou knowest that thy servant did fear the Lord: and the creditor is come to take unto him my two sons to be bondmen. And Elisha said unto her, What shall I do for thee? tell me, what hast thou in the house? And she said, Thine handmaid hath not any thing in the house, save a pot of oil. Then he said, Go, borrow thee vessels abroad of all thy neighbours, even empty vessels; borrow not a few. And when thou art come in, thou shalt shut the door upon thee and upon thy sons, and shalt pour out into all those vessels, and thou shalt set aside that which is full. So she went from him, and shut the door upon her and upon her sons, who brought the vessels to her; and she poured out. And it came to pass, when the vessels were full, that she said unto her son, Bring me yet a vessel. And he said unto her, There is not a vessel more. And the oil stayed. Then she came and told the man of God. And he said, Go, sell the oil, and pay thy debt, and live thou and thy children of the rest.”

Some takeaways: God takes care of His children—trust Him. He knew ahead and prepared the problem and the solution—trust Him. His timing is perfect—trust Him. He uses those things that are already there in our life—trust Him. Do you remember the boy with sack lunch…made a feast. How about the coin in the fishes mouth…paid some taxes. Remember the fishermen fishing…brought in a huge catch. In fact, God took fishermen…made world changers. God took a shepherd…made a king. He took a farmer…made a prophet (Elisha). The Lord took a rod in the hand…made an instrument of power (Moses’ staff). Our great God took a murderer…made a prophet (Moses). He later took a zealously religious assassin…made a missionary (Paul). And of course, in case there is any doubt, He took dirt on the ground…made a man. 

My God works this way. He has His way and they are past me finding out. I can and should trust Him. So should you. He uses common things uncommonly; using the natural and infusing the supernatural into it. Flat out—my God takes care of me. Do you trust Him? He has His ways-you can trust Him. I have seen Him do some things that blow my mind. He isn’t done and I can’t wait to see what He does next! Do you trust Him?