My Thoughts are not Your Thoughts

“For My Thoughts are not Your Thoughts”

For my thoughts are not your thoughts, and your ways are not my ways. This is the very word of 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

We literally do not know what we are doing. To become a wise person, we cannot rely on our own thoughts and learning; we learn to listen, particularly to God. We are all students of life, learning as we age. God’s path leads to a wholeness that is unattainable by any other means. Our mistakes let us know what is incorrect and if we learn from them, we are well on our way to a healthy relationship with God.

If we are imperfect creatures, we are born of the flesh, and destined to die. Our efforts can help us lay down our defenses, surrendering ourselves to the will of God. Saying we are sorry and on the wrong path, is a beginning to start our efforts anew. This helps us climb from the hole life tries to put us in. Some people call this repentance; I call this faith in a loving God.

Prayer and meditation have guided me to the acceptance of a mind greater than my own. These two practices give me a path to realize that I do not have to carry the world on my shoulders. God tells me that if I open myself to something greater than myself, I am happier, more productive, and able to turn those against me to be in my corner. Jesus teaches if we defeat our opponents, we have lost; if we make them friends and work with them, we are walking on His lighted path. When I read “my thoughts are not your thoughts,” I am reminded that there is something much greater than self, and this is God, who only wants me to love Him and keep his commandments . . . and be happy.