Do It God’s Way Read Isaiah 55

‘“For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,”’ declares 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”’ (Isa. 55:8, 9 NASB). On Tuesday evening, November 8, 2016 I sat in front of the television watching the returns for the election of the next president of the United States of America. I noticed that the early returns showed Donald Trump was leading in the electoral votes. This was to be expected because the early returns were from red states. The experts had said that Hillary Clinton would win because of the highly populated blue states in the upper middle states. However, as the night wore on everyone noticed that Donald Trump was winning in some battleground states and more importantly in some blue states where it had been believed that these states would vote for Clinton. As the race tightened and Mr. Trump began to pull some upsets the experts on television began to question what was happening. What went wrong they asked? Different experts expressed their opinion. When Donald Trump was declared the winner the same experts that had told us that Clinton would win began to try to explain to us what went wrong. There were a lot of different opinions expressed. Matthew Dowd of ABC news said that he had picked Clinton based on the information in the pre election polls. Mr. Dowd was admitting that there were some things that he had not known. His way of analyzing the election proved to be inadequate. The next morning the experts were still trying to figure things out. The Lord brought to my mind Isaiah 55:8 which says, ‘“For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,’ declares the LORD.” I said to my wife, “people will not believe this but God did this.” We won’t believe this because this does not fit in with our way of thinking. You see, when things go our way we say God did it. On the other hand when things do not go our way we reject the idea that God has anything to do with it. It is totally of the devil. I say that the scriptures support the idea that God uses evil people to bring about His purpose. For example, in the book of Habakkuk God tells the prophet that he is going to use the evil Babylonians to take His people that live in Judah into captivity. In 605 B.C. under the rule of Nebuchadnezzar the Babylonians surrounded Jerusalem and by 586 B.C. The people of God had been taken into exile to a land ruled by wicked people that worshiped idol gods. Unless we have the mind of God we will never be able to fully understand what took place in this election. So, let me express a few thoughts on the matter. In Isaiah 55 God tells the Hebrews who are in captivity that He is going to bring them back to Jerusalem. These people have been in captivity for seventy years. They are powerless. How can they free themselves from the powerful kings of Babylon? Well, God has a plan. God has thought things out. He has determined a way to make it happen. How can God do this? In order to understand this we have to know a little bit of Christian theology. No, we do not need a seminary degree. We do not need to know the theological terms that I will be using. We do have to know a little bit about God and that’s theology. First, we must believe that God is who He says that He is. Those who do not believe in God will not be able to understand God. We must believe that God is holy. This means that God is different from anything in the earth. We believe this because we believe that God existed and he created the world. In creating the world, God instituted laws by which the world operates. This is the reason that God’s thoughts and ways are different than ours. God is sovereign. This means that God does what God determines in His own council what will be. There is no other god beside Him so there is no one that can successfully challenge His decisions. What makes God sovereign? Again, I will use some seminary terms. God is omnipresent. This means that everything that exists is in the presence of God. Everything is in the realm that God controls. Since God is omnipresent, He is also omniscient. This means that God knows everything. Nothing escapes His eyes. Nothing is hidden from God because His eyes are continually searching throughout the whole world. Nothing is secret from God. God is omnipotent. This means that God has power over His creation. We tend to think that as time changes God has to do things differently. Well, we have to change but God is immutable. God does not change. He remains the same throughout eternity. His laws do not change. Now, we change and our ways change. The way we think about things change. Since we change we expect God to change. God does not change and the more we change in our ways of thinking about God the further we get away from the mind of God. Now, let me return to the idea that the election results are of God’s doing. This past Sunday our pastor wanted to reassure the congregation that things will be alright. They do not need to worry. They do not need to be afraid. Our pastor led the congregation in singing an old song that in the past the children often sang, “He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands.” This is another way of expressing the words of Paul when he says: “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose” (Rom. 8:28, NASB). You see God is not working so that we can have things to go our way. God is working in the earth for the good of those who love Him. God is not working for the good of those who are democrats, republicans, and independents. God is working for the good of those who love Him, In spite of our frailties and misunderstandings God is working on behalf of His people. Who are His people? What determines if a person belongs to God? The answer is not complicated. It is the person who has believed in his heart and confessed with their mouths that Jesus Christ is Savior and Lord. They have been converted. This means that they have turned to God, and they are seeking His ways. They have faith in the work of Jesus Christ who died on the cross as a demonstration of God’s love for His world. They confess that Jesus is Lord. They surrender all that they are and all that they possess to the Lord Jesus Christ. You see God has great things in store for His people. His people may not know what God is doing in a particular situation, but we believe that God is working on our behalf. In Isaiah 55 God tells the people to prepare to return to Jerusalem. The thirsty can come to Him and have their thirst quenched. The hungry came come to Him and buy bread without paying for it. God has raised up a leader, a commander to lead His people. The holy God has glorified His people. However, there is one thing required of them. They must seek the Lord and call upon Him. They must forsake their wicked ways and their unrighteous thoughts. Why is this necessary? The ways of people and the thoughts of people are not the ways and thoughts of God. We are by nature carnal minded. We think about themselves; how to satisfy the desires of the flesh. On the other hand, God thinks primarily about our relationship to Him. He works to bring about His purpose, not our selfish desires. Yes God did it. He knew some things that the experts did not know. The experts could only try to analyze the polls. God was in control. We may not know what God is up to, but by faith we know that God is working on our behalf in ways that we do not understand.