Father Knows Best
By Tracy Smith
“My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the Lord.
“And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine.
For just as the heavens are higher than the earth,
so my ways are higher than your ways
and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.
“And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine.
For just as the heavens are higher than the earth,
so my ways are higher than your ways
and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.
Isaiah 55:8-9 (NLT)
Years ago, it had been a very long day dealing with a preschooler and a toddler asking me “why” approximately 352 times; at the 353rd “why” I finally snapped, “Because I’m the mom and I told you to!” Yes, the saying that we are all convinced we will never say to our own children! Did they really need to know every reason why I wanted them to do something? Couldn’t they just trust that, as their mom, I would not ask them to do anything crazy and that I loved them and only wanted what was best for them?
It was a “light bulb” moment for me. Don’t we do the same thing with God? How often do we continually ask the Lord “why,” instead of trusting that He has our best interests at heart?
- Why do I have to deal with this anxiety disorder?
- Why did my husband lose his job back in 2003?
- Why did he have to spend so many years “underemployed” before finding a good job?
- Why do people hurt each other in such evil ways?
- Why does so-and-so not like me?
The “why’s” can go on and on and on. I’m so glad that we don’t have a God who snaps His answer out at us, like I did to my boys all those years ago. His answer is right there for us in Isaiah 55: His ways and thoughts are not like ours; they are higher. He knows the whole picture when we are only seeing a part. Sometimes, you may find out the answer to your “why” and sometimes you may not. But through it all, we have to remember to trust that as our Father, He only wants what is best for us.
GOING DEEPER
- Is there a “why” you are holding on to? What can you do to lay it at His feet and trust in Him?
FURTHER READING
Along with being a wife and mother to two teenage sons, Tracy is a ministry assistant at Oakwood and works with a great group of Junior High girls.
