“For My thoughts are not your thoughts,
Nor are your ways My ways,” says 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.”
(Isaiah 55:8,9)
AS WE REACH TOWARD GOD, WE NEED TO UNDERSTAND THAT WE ARE REACHING UPWARD. In every conceivable way, God is above us. His ways and His thoughts are as far above ours “as the heavens are higher than the earth.” Obviously, our wisdom and power are less than His, but what’s more important, our authority is less than His. He is the Creator; we are His creatures. He is the King; we are His subjects. He is far above us in every way.
Hierarchy. It may not be in fashion nowadays, but the notion of “hierarchy” is a valid concept. Everywhere we look, from the physical cosmos to the animal kingdom, reality is ordered in hierarchies and structured in ranks. And somewhere deep inside, we understand that this is necessary and beneficial. It’s time we admitted there is nothing inherently demeaning about occupying a lower rank than someone else in the larger scale of life.
Humility. Accepting the fact that God is above us and we are under His rule, we need to have the humility to welcome His perspective, His thoughts, and His will for our lives. In our real-life decisions, we need to yield to the high wisdom that He alone has.
Happiness. There are great benefits that flow from having the right attitude toward all that is around us, and it’s no exaggeration to say that the greatest happiness of all is that of taking our proper place in the vast scheme of God’s creation, gladly under His rule.
If the truth be told, we need something superior to us to yearn for and to reach toward. Though we often suppose that independence, autonomy, and equality are the things we need, what we really need is a Being who is higher than we — One in whose supremacy and sovereignty we may rest. Even in this life, security comes from having good rulers and good laws, and certainly in the life to come, what we long for is the perfect, benevolent rule of a King who is, as Paul wrote, eternal, immortal, and all-wise. To Him “be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen” (1 Timothy 1:17).
“Man, whether he likes it or not, is a being forced by his nature to seek some higher authority” (José Ortega y Gasset).
Gary Henry — WordPoints.com + AreYouaChristian.com
