“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.”
- Isaiah 55:8-9
It’s difficult growing up in a different country. When I was a child, there were many things I couldn’t understand. This was compounded by the fact that I had to learn two different languages, and two different cultures, that seemed in many ways to be completely opposite of one another.
On top of that, there were just things that my childish brain couldn’t comprehend yet. Studies of cognitive development have theorized that humans learn to acquire, organize and use knowledge in stages. We don’t learn about object permanence until around seven months. We start to be able to understand other people’s points of view after six years. We begin to understand abstract thought by twelve. And then we get bombarded with hormones during puberty, which wash our brains in emotional instability and practical insanity until adulthood.
All that to say, I think most people would agree that the way an infant sees the world is completely different than the way an adult would. In the same way, we see the world in a completely different way than God does. An infant is dependent on its caretaker to provide, protect, and guide them as they experience life. And in the same way, we can depend on God to provide, protect, and guide us as we do the same.
Dear friend, I hope and pray that God will give you peace and confidence in His wisdom, knowledge and power to love and guide you wherever you find yourself this week.
