God’s Ways
“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD” (Isaiah 55:8).
A lack of understanding about God’s ways is one of the biggest frustrations of Christian life. There are times when we could really use a miracle and He doesn’t come through for us in the way we want, which can lead to confusion and disappointment. Sometimes God’s provision does not look the way we would expect—or happen when we think it should.
We must remind ourselves at such times that God is sovereign. He knows the best way and He determines the right time. We must trust, obey, and wait patiently when we don’t understand. He will bring His word to pass. He said in Isaiah 55:11, “So is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.” Proverbs 3:5-6 tells us to trust in the Lord with all our hearts and lean not on our own understanding, but in all our ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct our paths.
The Bible gives us several instances where God provided solutions or victories for His people in ways they did not imagine:
During a severe famine in Israel, God sent Elijah to a brook, Cherith, and ravens miraculously delivered food to him. Eventually, the brook dried up. God, who made water flow out of a rock at Horeb (Exodus 17:6), did not cause more water to spring out from the ground for Elijah. Instead, God sent him to an unthinkable place—the house of a starving widow in Zarephath who had no ability to feed him. Our human minds do not think this way; we would have sent him to a rich man somewhere else, but God’s ways are not always ours. Elijah obeyed God, and God used a handful of meal and a little oil to miraculously feed him and the widow’s household throughout the drought, which lasted over three years.
When your own brook dries up, what do you do? You must trust God. He is the source. He can use anyone or any means to meet your needs. Maybe a brother or a friend has been helping you financially; he is not your source, but a means by which God meets your needs. When you put your faith or hope in a human being, you limit God (Psalm 78:41).
God gave the Israelites victory at the battle of Jericho in an inconceivable way, as we see in Joshua chapter six. God commanded that they march around the city, led by seven priests blowing trumpets, with the Ark of the Covenant in front of them and all the people behind the Ark of the Covenant. They marched around Jericho once a day for the first six days, and then seven times on the seventh day. After the priests blew the trumpets, the Israelites shouted, and the city walls fell before them. The Lord who made the wall of Jericho fell flat shall make the wall surrounding your blessing fall in the name of Jesus. Amen.
God also gave the Israelites an incredible victory over the Midianites, who had oppressed them for many years, as recorded in Judges chapter seven. God raised Gideon to deliver Israel from this oppression. Gideon gathered an army of 32,000 people to fight the Midianites’ army of 135,000. Even though the odds were stacked in the Midianites’ favor, God told Gideon his army was too big. Those who were afraid were told to go back home, and 22,000 people left, but God said the 10,000 soldiers were still too many. Finally, only 300 soldiers fought against an army of 135,000 and defeated them. This is incomprehensible; only the hand of God can do this. We must trust and obey Him for victory.
We must daily seek the face of God in prayer, like Moses, who prayed, “God, show me now Your way, that I may know You and that I may find grace in Your sight.” Psalm 103:7 tells us that God made known His ways to Moses and His acts to the children of Israel. God also promises in Psalm 25:12 that He will teach those who fear Him the way to choose. Those who fear Him revere and respect Him.
God’s way of healing the Israelites from poisonous snakebite was for them to look up at a lifted brazen serpent (Numbers 21). Those who ignored God’s means of healing due to unbelief or following their previous knowledge of treating snakebite perished. God’s methods may not make sense to us, but they are the only way to solve our problems. Paul says, “For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God” (1 Corinthians 1:18). Jesus tells us in John 3:14-15, “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.”
Even today, many devise their own ways by following other religions such as Hinduism, Islam, or Buddhism, claiming they are ways to heaven. Many also trust in their good works or charitable donations to lead them to heaven. As noble as these acts may be, they are not God’s means of salvation. God’s only way to heaven is faith in Jesus. If you choose another path or no path at all, the end result is eternal death, just as the snakebitten Israelites who chose not to follow God’s way died. God declared in His Word, “I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life” (Deuteronomy 30:19). Jesus Himself said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me” (John 14:6).
Today, if you will hear His voice, do not harden your hearts; accept Jesus as the ONLY way to God and you will be saved. I pray you will make this decision today.