What does God mean when He says, “my ways are higher than your ways” in Isaiah 55:9?

Answer

Isaiah 55:8–9 states, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways. . . . As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” God’s infinite thoughts surpass our limited ability to comprehend them. The psalmist expressed, “How precious to me are your thoughts, God! How vast is the sum of them!” «How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! How great is the sum of them! », (Psalm 139:17). Although God’s thoughts and His ways may not always be clear to us, we can find comfort in knowing that He is always good, and therefore, everything He does is good (Psalm 13:6;Psalm 100:5).

The human heart is often filled with questions for God: “Why?” “When?” “How?” We frequently struggle with our faith due to these inquiries. How can we fully trust a God whom we do not understand? How can we maintain faith when God’s ways sometimes appear harsh? When we attempt to grasp God’s ways, we may become frustrated. His ways are beyond ours, and His actions often defy our earthly comprehension. We question God’s ways in situations like the death of young people, the suffering of righteous individuals in tragedies, and the prosperity of the wicked (see Psalm 73). Thus, we knock on heaven’s door seeking answers, only to receive this response: “My ways are higher than your ways.”

The key to finding peace amidst the mysteries we cannot unravel is found in Psalm 131: “My heart is not proud, Lord, my eyes are not haughty; I do not concern myself with great matters or things too wonderful for me. But I have calmed and quieted myself, I am like a weaned child with its mother; like a weaned child I am content” (verses 1–2). A just-weaned child does not comprehend everything his mo

There does. She may correct him, take him to the doctor for vaccinations, and tell him “no” when he wants something very much. But he trusts her and loves her because he knows she loves him. He rests on his mother in complete humility and trust in her superior wisdom and provision. That’s what we must do with God when His ways are beyond our comprehension.

If we try to understand God’s ways from earth looking up, we won’t find many answers. Instead, God left us a clue in the word higher. His ways are not merely different from ours, they are higher. Better. Superior. They exist on a grander scale. He parted the Red Sea because it fit His plan for Israel (Exodus 14:21;Psalm 66:6). He made the sun stand still so Joshua’s army could defeat their enemies (Joshua 10:12-13). He sent an angel to let Peter out of jail (Acts 12:6-10), but He allowed James to be executed «And he killed James the brother of John with the sword. », (Acts 12:2). God has allowed some of His faithful servants to suffer terrible fates, even though He could have delivered them if He chose (Hebrews 11:32-40). When we try to make sense of these events with our natural minds, we won’t get anywhere. Instead, God invites us to come up higher and learn to see life from His perspective.

From earth looking up, we see only confusion. But from heaven looking down, we see a plan unfolding. In Isaiah 46:9–11, the Lord lays out His sovereign plan to use the Persian king Cyrus: “I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me. I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come. I say, ‘My pPurpose will stand, and I will do all that I please.’ From the east, I summon a bird of prey; from a far-off land, a man to fulfill my purpose. What I have said, that I will bring about; what I have planned, that I will do.” We may not know why God needs a “bird from the east” or why He would want to use a man like Cyrus. The man “from a far-off land” may not himself understand why he is moving across the world. But those who trust the Lord can rest in the confidence that God is at work. The Bible gives little room for the idea of coincidence (Proverbs 16:33; Psalm 37:23). In God’s “higher ways,” everything happens for a reason and will be woven into the fabric of God’s good plan for those who love Him: “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28).

God’s ways are higher than our ways because His ways are always part of a bigger plan. We see only our small piece of the puzzle; God sees the finished work. We see a portion of the jumbled back of the tapestry; God is the Weaver at the loom. When our desire is to live in step with His plan, we can have confidence that, even when bad things happen, God is still in control. He often takes what Satan meant for evil and turns it into good for the salvation of many (see Genesis 50:20). God’s priorities are the magnification of His glory and the expansion of His kingdom (Psalm 97:6; Luke 8:1). When God’s glory and God’s kingdom are our priorities too, we learn to rejoice that His ways are higher than our ways: “Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God” (1 Corinthians 10:31).

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