“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither 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.” Isaiah 55:8-9
Too many churches today profess to be ministries, however they act more like corporate entities then houses of God. They make decisions based on principles of business rather than the scriptures. Parishioners are viewed more as customers they desire to attract and keep rather than members of the body of Christ who need discipling in order to grow into mature men and women of God. I believe this is the main reason many churches have little influence in the world. They are trying to do things using the wisdom of this world rather than the wisdom and power of God.
Many churches are turning to church growth professionals to help them grow and prosper, and there is nothing intrinsically wrong with this. However, the trouble with most of these groups is they use business and corporate strategies to bring in more numbers, resulting in increased donations. Their goal is merely to increase numbers, thinking this is the measure of success. But they are wrong. Success is measured in doing God’s will and building up the people of God no matter what that means. We must always look to God’s wisdom and not man’s thoughts. And many times, the wisdom of God is viewed as foolishness in the eyes of man. Let’s look at a few examples.
- – Man’s way in destroying a city is explosives and huge armies. God’s way is marching around it thirteen times and then shouting.
“Now Jericho was tightly shut because of the sons of Israel; no one went out and no one came in. The LORD said to Joshua, See, I have given Jericho into your hand, with its king and the valiant warriors. You shall march around the city, all the men of war circling the city once. You shall do so for six days. Also, seven priests shall carry seven trumpets of rams’ horns before the ark; then on the seventh day you shall march around the city seven times, and the priests shall blow the trumpets. It shall be that when they make a long blast with the ram’s horn, and when you hear the sound of the trumpet, all the people shall shout with a great shout; and the wall of the city will fall down flat, and the people will go up every man straight ahead. So. Joshua the son of Nun called the priests and said to them, Take up the ark of the covenant, and let seven priests carry seven trumpets of rams’ horns before the ark of the LORD. Then he said to the people, Go forward, and march around the city, and let the armed men go on before the ark of the LORD. And it was so, that when Joshua had spoken to the people, the seven priests carrying the seven trumpets of rams’ horns before the LORD went forward and blew the trumpets; and the ark of the covenant of the LORD followed them. The armed men went before the priests who blew the trumpets, and the rear guard came after the ark, while they continued to blow the trumpets. But Joshua commanded the people, saying, You shall not shout nor let your voice be heard nor let a word proceed out of your mouth, until the day I tell you, ‘Shout!’ Then you shall shout! So, he had the ark of the LORD taken around the city, circling it once; then they came into the camp and spent the night in the camp. Now Joshua rose early in the morning, and the priests took up the ark of the LORD. The seven priests carrying the seven trumpets of rams’ horns before the ark of the LORD went on continually and blew the trumpets; and the armed men went before them and the rear guard came after the ark of the LORD, while they continued to blow the trumpets. Thus, the second day they marched around the city once and returned to the camp; they did so for six days. Then on the seventh day they rose early at the dawning of the day and marched around the city in the same manner seven times; only on that day they marched around the city seven times. At the seventh time, when the priests blew the trumpets, Joshua said to the people, “Shout! For the LORD has given you the city. The city shall be under the ban, it and all that is in it belongs to the LORD; only Rahab the harlot and all who are with her in the house shall live, because she hid the messengers whom we sent. But as for you, only keep yourselves from the things under the ban, so that you do not covet them and take some of the things under the ban and make the camp of Israel accursed and bring trouble on it. But all the silver and gold and articles of bronze and iron are holy to the LORD; they shall go into the treasury of the LORD.” So, the people shouted, and priests blew the trumpets; and when the people heard the sound of the trumpet, the people shouted with a great shout and the wall fell down flat, so that the people went up into the city, every man straight ahead, and they took the city.” Joshua 6:3-20.
- – Man’s idea of getting rich is by saving, God’s idea of getting rich is giving away.
“There is one who scatters, and yet increases all the more, And there is one who withholds what is justly due, and yet it results only in want.” Proverbs 11:24.
- – Man’s idea of salvation is to work until you earn it, God’s way is to receive a free gift from Him, making Christ the Lord of our life.
“In the same way then, there has also come to be at the present time a remnant according to God’s gracious choice. But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works, otherwise grace is no longer grace.” Romans 11:5-6.
Just from these three examples, we see that God’s ways are not ours and vice-versa. We also know that God’s success rate is 100%, and ours is significantly less. So, would it not be wise to follow the ways of one who has a perfect history? I would think so. However, many choose to do things the way they see it. They know God, who created everything that exists, available for guidance and help, and they go to one infinitely less capable and wise. It is like having a brain tumor and choosing to ask a baby baboon to remove it rather than a neurosurgeon. And this does not even come close to approaching the vast difference between man and God. The difference in this analogy is that man is able to take advise from God, where a baby baboon is incapable of taking advise from a neurosurgeon. The point though is clear. We should be more inclined to go to God rather than anyone else. Often we do not. Instead. we rely on our own wisdom. And there are only a few reasons why we do, and any of these, if true to us, should cause much consternation.
1 – We do not honestly believe God is out there.
2 – We do not honestly believe God speaks to us.
3 – What we believe is God speaking is really our own desires.
4 – We believe we know better.
Do we trust God more than ourselves? Do we think we know more than God? Some time ago, my son was trying to get an internship at a local church as a requirement for one of His classes at Seminary. He was pursuing his Master of Divinity. He tried his own church, then our church, and then another. But the first two could not do it, and time was running out. My wife was upset and wanted to get involved, but I told her to let God manage this through our son. She acquiesced and started praying. Then God asked her, “Do you love him more than I do?” She had no answer at first, so He asked again. “Do you love him more than I do?” She said, “I am his mother.” Then He asked her a third time. “Do you love him more than I do?” She finally said “No,” and decided to put it in God’s hands, knowing He loves him more than she did. Within five minutes, he notifies us that the third church got back with him and agreed to have him as an intern. And also, it was pretty much what our son wanted. Letting God take charge always works, taking matters into our own hands do not. Remember Hagar and Ishmael?
God told Abraham and Sara that they would be having a son, and Sarah would be the one to bear him. But both thought that Sarah was beyond childbearing age, so they chose to take matters into their own hands and used Hagar, Sara’s Egyptian handmaid, to bring the promised child into the world. But that was not what God had in mind. In fact, the child Hagar gave birth to would ultimately father enemies of Israel. Not exactly an ideal resolution. How many times have we missed God’s best because we decided to do it our way? Or how many times have we made matters worse? We may never know. However, we can mitigate future issues by following Gods ways. How can we do that? First, we must believe. Even as Christians, we can have doubts. We sometimes are reticent to just let God manage it because we think He needs our help. That is where we get into problems. For some reason, we think that we know better, or that God is far away. Or maybe that He is not interested in our issues. But the biggest issue is that we forget He is there to help us. What a shame. The most important person in our life, and we sometimes forget He is available to help us. and we just do things ourselves.
It is important that we develop a close relationship with God that will help us know we can trust Him. He is absolutely trustworthy. He cannot lie, He can do anything. And He loves us and always has our best at heart. But we need to believe that at the very core of our being. It must be something that comes naturally to us. That is how the first century Christians endured the persecution they suffered, they did it God’s way. That was how the apostles were able to reach the world with the gospel. They did it God’s way. Also, that was how Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego were able to survive the king’s death sentence, they did it God’s way. And that is how we will overcome all obstacles we face, by doing it God’s way.
Many times, in our Christian walk, we will be tempted to do God’s work the way we choose to. We will just take control of the situation using the wisdom of men rather than the wisdom of God. We cannot let ourselves fall into this trap. We must do things the Lord’s way, instead of our way, where we could end up creating a giant mess and missing God’s perfect way. His plans are perfect, and ours are flawed. We must be in a constant attitude of prayer, ready to hear His voice any way He chooses, in any fashion He desires to reveal His will to us. We must not try to circumvent what He wants done with our own designs and ways. He knows best, and why would we settle for less than the best.
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