God didn't hide this truth or not expect us to embrace this reality. In Proverbs 14:12, He reminds us, "There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death." In other words, if I'm relying upon my experience, judgement, and intellect to properly evaluate my circumstances, especially those life-altering moments in my life, chances are I'm going to be wrong. It's not that God doesn't expect us to use our brains to make good decisions, but He never expected us to evaluate our life through the prism of our finite minds.
Okay, if you're like me you're going to need an example. One example coming up . . .
In the Book of Jeremiah we learn about the Babylonian conquest and captivity of most of the Jewish people who lived in and around Jerusalem. After multiple warnings to repent of their sins, God allowed Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, to conquer His people. The fortified walls of Jerusalem came down, families were ripped apart, belongings were taken, children and parents never to see each other again, and those that survived were taken to Babylon into exile.
Everything that they knew was gone, freedom, family, safety, home, everything was taken away. But Nebuchadnezzar didn't kill or take all of the Jewish people into captivity. Some of them were allowed to stay and they quickly interpreted this event to mean that God looked upon them with favor, and that those that had been taken captive were cursed.
And let's be honest, isn't that the way most of us would view that situation?
The people who were left behind still had their freedom, their homes and land, and were free to choose the paths of the future. Being a slave, a captive, meant the loss of those things, as well as the loss of their passions and dreams. It also brought a loss of country, national and personal identity. While mourning the loss of their loved ones, they also no longer directed their own schedule, could chose their work tasks, they didn't even have control of their own diet. Their freedom to choose, to worship, to live as they once had, was all gone.
Now that we have a picture of the two groups of people, the captives and those that remained in their homeland, let's see what God had to say to Jeremiah about that situation. (Jeremiah 24)
"After the last group was carried into exile from Jerusalem, the Lord showed me two baskets of figs placed in front of the temple of the Lord. One basket had very good figs, like those that ripen early; the other basket had very bad figs, so bad they could not be eaten. The the Lord asked me, "What do you see, Jeremiah?"
"Figs," I answered, "The good ones are very good, but the bad ones are so bad they cannot be eaten,"
"This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: 'Like these good figs, I regard as good the exiles from Judah, whom I sent away from this place to the land of the Babylonians. My eyes will watch over them for their good, and I will bring them back to this land. They will be my people, and I will be their God.'
Jumping in here for a minute, observe how God takes full ownership for the destruction of His people, a consequence of their persistent disobedience. Yet, His love, grace and plans for healing are also still on full display and have not ceased, despite their rebellion.
'But like the bad figs, which are so bad they cannot be eaten,' says the Lord, 'So I will deal with the survivors from Jerusalem, whether they remain in this land or live in Egypt. I will make them abhorrent and an offense to all the kingdoms of the earth, a curse and an object of ridicule, wherever I banish them . . . until they are destroyed from the land I gave to them and their ancestors.'"
So now which group looks to be in the worst situation?
God's ways are not our ways, (see HERE for a previous blog post on this topic), and we run a terrible risk of misdiagnosing our circumstances when we view them from our finite perspective. Would you have ever dreamed that the group that had been taken into captivity and experienced such terrible losses, would be deemed the group that God considered blessed? When we tend to cast an envious eye toward our neighbors social media presence and wonder aloud why God isn't blessing me like He is blessing them, this might be a good time to remember this verse. "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)
I used to try to paint this picture of the difference between us and God with my daughter using this example. We would go outside where we would see ants or bugs moving around in the flower bed. I would take one of my daughter's books and proceed to read to the ants and bugs. She found this extremely funny and would proclaim with a loud voice, "Dad! What are you doing? They can't understand you!" To which I would reply, "You're right, but the gap between what they can understand about what I'm saying is far less than the gap between our understanding and God's."
Now that we have a picture of the two groups of people, the captives and those that remained in their homeland, let's see what God had to say to Jeremiah about that situation. (Jeremiah 24)
"After the last group was carried into exile from Jerusalem, the Lord showed me two baskets of figs placed in front of the temple of the Lord. One basket had very good figs, like those that ripen early; the other basket had very bad figs, so bad they could not be eaten. The the Lord asked me, "What do you see, Jeremiah?"
"Figs," I answered, "The good ones are very good, but the bad ones are so bad they cannot be eaten,"
"This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: 'Like these good figs, I regard as good the exiles from Judah, whom I sent away from this place to the land of the Babylonians. My eyes will watch over them for their good, and I will bring them back to this land. They will be my people, and I will be their God.'
Jumping in here for a minute, observe how God takes full ownership for the destruction of His people, a consequence of their persistent disobedience. Yet, His love, grace and plans for healing are also still on full display and have not ceased, despite their rebellion.
'But like the bad figs, which are so bad they cannot be eaten,' says the Lord, 'So I will deal with the survivors from Jerusalem, whether they remain in this land or live in Egypt. I will make them abhorrent and an offense to all the kingdoms of the earth, a curse and an object of ridicule, wherever I banish them . . . until they are destroyed from the land I gave to them and their ancestors.'"
So now which group looks to be in the worst situation?
God's ways are not our ways, (see HERE for a previous blog post on this topic), and we run a terrible risk of misdiagnosing our circumstances when we view them from our finite perspective. Would you have ever dreamed that the group that had been taken into captivity and experienced such terrible losses, would be deemed the group that God considered blessed? When we tend to cast an envious eye toward our neighbors social media presence and wonder aloud why God isn't blessing me like He is blessing them, this might be a good time to remember this verse. "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)
I used to try to paint this picture of the difference between us and God with my daughter using this example. We would go outside where we would see ants or bugs moving around in the flower bed. I would take one of my daughter's books and proceed to read to the ants and bugs. She found this extremely funny and would proclaim with a loud voice, "Dad! What are you doing? They can't understand you!" To which I would reply, "You're right, but the gap between what they can understand about what I'm saying is far less than the gap between our understanding and God's."
We truly cannot trust our own eyes to properly discern what God is doing in our lives.
When the winds of misfortune start shaking the foundation of your life, remember that God is allowing this season of trouble, maybe without a shred of justification in your eyes, but that is not the perspective that God wants us to use during those challenging seasons. He is still good, despite what we may think, His Word reminds of this fact time after time.
When the winds of misfortune start shaking the foundation of your life, remember that God is allowing this season of trouble, maybe without a shred of justification in your eyes, but that is not the perspective that God wants us to use during those challenging seasons. He is still good, despite what we may think, His Word reminds of this fact time after time.
"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."
