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. – Isaiah 55:8-9, KJV
God always has a unique way of doing things. Even in the foundation of the world, He chose to speak almost everything into existence but then took the time to fashion mankind with His own hands and breathe life into them personally. At the very least, the way He created us should prove to us that, though we may not understand why or how He chooses to do (or allow) things, He truly cares about us and is invested in every facet of our lives.
Over the last several days, each song that’s been on repeat in my head has had one line in common: “perfect in all your ways.” I don’t think it’s a coincidence, either. It’s something that I’ve had to learn through trying experience but something that has proven true over and over again. I know the plans God has for my life are greater and better than anything I could ever dream up or make happen on my own. That’s a fact my mom has always sought to instill in me since I was a little girl master planning my life down to every detail.
When I look back on all those plans, I’m surprised at what has happened and what hasn’t. Career wise, I’m nowhere near where 12-year-old me thought I’d be, but the heart and purpose behind the dreams I had still shines through in my work now. Family wise, the timeline I mapped out for myself in high school (when I’d get married, have kids, buy a house, all that jazz) has actually panned out. God allowed me to marry the most perfect person for me, who ironically is not at all the 6’5″ Italian basketball player 16-year-old me thought I’d marry. But I remember a week or so before our wedding, I was packing my stuff to move and I found “The Real List” of qualities for my future husband that my friend had me write down and pray over all those years ago. I had totally forgotten about it, but in reading it I realized that God placed every single one of those characteristics in Anthony, just for me.
God has brought all these things together in a way that was totally different than I could’ve imagined, but He did it in a way that showed me that He cares about what I care about. He loves me and wants me to be happy. Most importantly, He honors us when we choose to honor Him with our lives. And personally, I think what it really comes down to is letting God place His desires in our hearts. When we allow Him to do that and we start wanting what He wants, He is just jumping at the chance to make those things happen in our lives.
Delight thyself also in the Lord: and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. – Psalm 37:4, KJV
I’m grateful for the grace God has shown me while I strive to get it together and grow in my faith and trust in Him. It’s hard relinquishing control to an unseen God whose methods are sometimes inconceivable. But even when He allows bad things to happen in our lives, it’s always for our good. If we allow God to hold our hearts and work on us in those moments, something positive always comes out of every negative experience.
And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. – Romans 8:28, KJV
God’s ways are perfect. Even when it doesn’t seem like it, He knows what He’s doing and He’s doing it with our best interest at heart. What are some things you’ve seen God work out more perfectly that you could have orchestrated yourself? What are some things you’re currently facing that you could let God take control of? Is there any area of your life in which you could allow God to help you change your heart’s desires to His desires? When you do, I believe with all my heart that He’ll be eager to fulfill them in the most perfect way.