12/20/2023 – Distracted Thoughts and Attention
Isaiah 55:8-9
8 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways,”
declares the Lord.
9 “As the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts.
It is so easy for our thoughts and attention to get distracted in our everyday lives. We could be thinking about one certain topic but suddenly the latest news on the television or on our devices gets our attention. Human beings have such a short attention span that one might not believe that the attention span of a human being is only 8 seconds! And humans’ attention spans are only decreasing over time due to technology such as phones and tablets! It is also easy for us as humans to plan a way for ourselves and be so concentrated on that very plan that we forget about The One who already paved a way for us.
It is beautiful to see in the book of Isaiah that God speaks to a disgruntled people of Israel during a time of discouragement but offers a sense of peace and truth. Israel was going through a time of captivity and uncertainty whose lives were extremely difficult for those living in that time period but it is what God speaks that reigns above all that uncertainty and tribulation. God DECLARES that His thoughts are not ours and His ways are not our ways. He further continues to declare that His ways and thoughts are higher than our ways and thoughts. These two statements alone prove that our Heavenly Father is exactly that, a Heavenly Father.
We can rest assured that Our Father in Heaven is an omnipotent and sovereign Father who is always watching and taking care of His children. He looks after His children while His children might not see it right then and there. Even though we might have a certain thought or way that we have for ourselves, those very thoughts and ways might not align with God’s and when we realize that they don’t, our Father is right there to tell us that His ways and thoughts are better. Are your thoughts and ways aligning with God’s thoughts and ways? Be reminded that His plan for our lives will always be worth so much more than our plans for our lives. Even when we don’t think so, His way will always triumph.