“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
“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways.”
If it were left to men, that tortured and afflicted soul that had been possessed by the Gerasene Demon Legion would have remained in the wilderness amidst the anguish and the agony that had so overtaken him. He would have never returned home, alone, exiled from the place where he grew up, from the family he loved, from everything he had ever known. He would have died tormented by the presence of evil in his life as it destroyed him, body and mind, spirit and soul until there was nothing left but the broken frame of a man who lost everything and spent the course of his remaining years weeping and longing for something he had lost so long ago (Mark 5:1-5).
“As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.”
As the eyes of the Savior beheld this man, He knew he couldn’t leave him in the clutches of such wickedness as darkness and despair encompassed him, devouring him whole with no thought or consideration as to who this man was or deeper yearnings of his soul. He could not leave him to just die in a cave somewhere, desperate to end his life that finally the turmoil and the tribulation of this suffering and sorrow would finally be drawn to end and he would, in some way, find the peace that had been so robbed of him as those demons took a hold of his spirit and his soul.
Christ would heal him. He would chase the demons from his body, destroying them, and giving this man the second chance at life that he had never thought he would be given and in that moment the burdens and the weight of that life would be lifted from him. Through the power of God, Jesus would do what no other man could, what the wisdom and the enlightenment of man had thought impossible. He freed him to once more live (Mark 5:6-20).
“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways.”
Had it been left to the enlightenment of men, the daughter of Jairus would have been buried long before her time, having died, filling the lives of her family with pain and sorrow, tears and hardship as they struggled to find a reason for all of this. They had seen the body with no trace of life in it, with no hint of life left to it, now they couldn’t understand why this elder had such a hard time letting go. His daughter was gone, there was nothing left for him to do but to mourn. Yet he couldn’t seem to do that, he couldn’t seem to let go even as they knew that death was final, from which there was no escape (Mark 5:35).
“As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts”
He could leave him to suffer... not like this, not as He knew there was more for her, not while He knew that there was meant to be more time for her. Looking into Jairus’ eyes, Jesus saw the pain and the sorrow, the hurt and the longing, as He whispered the words to him, “Be not afraid, only believe.”
The force of those words may have come instantly, or it may have come a short time later when he saw the full force of what Christ had done for him; whenever they did it had to dawn on him the full power and the authority of this man. Here was someone who had strength over the grave, as he did what none had ever been able to do, as he did what had seemed so impossible. Maybe he expected that he could, maybe he had just thought that this prophet of God could just make some sense out of what seemed so senseless, but whatever he had imagined probably could have never prepared him for the joy that overtook him when he saw the full measure of Jesus’ love had to far exceed anything he had ever imagined. His daughter was alive, given life when it seemed like there was only death (Mark 5:36-43).
“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.”
The miracle of God’s love, the wondrous blessing of Christ’s compassion, the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives is that even in the improbable, even in the impossible there is so much that our Lord is capable of as He shows unto us mercy, proving to us that His grace is always sufficient and that it shall always give unto us according to our needs. Yes, the situation may seem hard and harsh, our lives may seem like they are given over to the worst of trials and the greatest of turmoil, yet that is never the end of God’s story. No matter what the bondage, no matter what the captivity or the torment, no matter what the struggle, He is there to heal us and to care for us, to give us a second chance at life that we had always hoped for but that the world had always told us was impossible for us.
That is the abiding expectation, the blessed assurances of His Word, that is the wondrous marvel of Christ’s transcending love as we are given in a new hope as we are made into a new creation in the faithfulness of God’s devotion. This is what we must put our trust in, knowing that pain is fleeting and despair shall soon be set to flight as the desires of our heart for peace and the anticipation of our spirits for solace shall be fulfilled in the deepest of wishes from our Heavenly Father for His grace to encompass our being.
Trust in that promise, trust in that hope, even as the world tells unto you that your faith is in vain and those things that you hope for will never come, for their shall come a time and a day when the Lord shall reveal himself in truth and in righteousness amidst your life and the lives of all who cry out to Him in the suffering that they feel. It is then that healing shall come as the lost shall be found, the fallen shall be uplifted and the broken shall be healed, strength beyond compare shall be made manifest in the spirit and the soul shall sing forever the praises to the Almighty for the firmness of the devotion and the vigilance that He showed in the lives of His people even as the world thought it unimaginable the wonders of the miracles that He could work through the power of His authority...
“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.”
Lord, grant this trust unto us all...
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.
Prayer:
Higher than ours...
So much higher than ours are Your thoughts O Lord, and so much greater than ours are Your ways as they reveal Your transcending truth and Your righteousness in a lost and fallen world.
Through the virtue and the uprightness of those ways Lord we have seen the wonders of Your miracles as they have been made manifest in the lives of Your people. We have seen them in the joy of the family of Issa Salomi, that contractor held in Iraq these long months, as he was set free by those who held him, ripping him from his life and his home. We have seen in the release of Corporal Josue Daniel Calvo by FARC rebels as he has been given a second chance at life, free of the bondage and the captivity that reigned over his life as hope seemed so far distant, so far removed from him.
Your hand moves through this world and it works wondrous deeds that few thought possible. For that we cannot help by raise our voices in praise and thanksgiving to You for the miracles and the wonders that You work as hope is restored and peace that once seemed so elusive is given to even the most tortured of souls.
Work then these same miracles in the lives of others Lord, show forth Your ways in the heart and the minds, the spirits and the souls of all who are held captive and prisoner throughout the world. Give hope to those who thought it faded until there was nothing but hopelessness, heal those who find themselves wounded and broken by the presence of evil in this world, and let Your righteousness shine forth as it works through the lives of the people in the most significant of ways to bring freedom and liberty into their lives.
Into the lives of the crew, those 24 from the MV Iceberg 1, bring them that hope Lord. Strengthen and preserve them that they may with endurance persevere through all the trials that they are now forced to face, being taken prisoner and held hostage by pirates, as it seems as if it is impossible for them to escape the meager estate they are held in, as darkness comes to bear in their lives. Free them, free them amidst the love that You have for them that they may praise Your name for the wondrous deeds that You do, and for the marvels of Your wondrous hand as it moves through this world.
Then shall all marvel at Your ways, knowing how far above ours they truly are as they weave through this world to encompass the lives of all those in need or in trouble.
In the name of Your Son, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with You in the Kingdom, one God, world without end, Amen.
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