The Way of Death
“There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death.” Proverbs 14:12
Logic. It’s one of our worst enemies—at least it’s one of mine. I’ve always been a person who needs to understand things. It helped me in school and produced straight A’s on my report cards, but it often works against me when I need to trust. My analytical mind sets to work and robs me of peace.
Can you relate? Have you ever tossed and turned in the night working through all angles of a scenario, looking for that light bulb moment when it all becomes clear? Perhaps you think, “If I can just figure it out I can fix it, or at least I’ll be able to rest.”
That might be true in the world, but that doesn’t apply to God’s agenda. Isaiah 55:9 explains why.
“As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.”
God’s thoughts and ways are beyond our ability to understand. If we spend our time trying to, we’ll end up frustrated. There’s only so high our thoughts can ascend. Once we reach that plateau, we’re left with trusting the unseen as our only recourse, and most of us aren’t very comfortable there. We don’t like that dark area where we can’t understand or make sense of our circumstances. Logic tells us things shouldn’t be happening this way, so we find ourselves robbed of peace.
Curiously, we pursue logic in search of that elusive peace, but we won’t find it there. Consider our opening Scripture,
“There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death.”
Death, not peace, lies at the end of the road traveled by logic. In God’s economy, it’s our enemy, not our friend.
So what do we do? We allow God to renew our minds. Praise Jesus that through salvation, “we have the mind of Christ” (1 Corinthians 2:16).
Dear one, peace comes when we learn to release what we don’t understand, and trust what we know of God. What do we know of Him?
- He’s good. “may your saints rejoice in your goodness.” 2 Chronicles 6:41
- He’s loving. “He is my loving God and my fortress.” Psalm 144:2
- He’s for us. “I know the plans I have for you . . . to prosper you.” Jeremiah 29:11
Here’s the best part.
“No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him” — 1 Corinthians 2:9
If you can think it, you’re limiting what God wants to do for you.
Ask God to let that settle on you . . . Give it a moment to sink in. The best plan that you could come up with for yourself—your best case scenario— is less than what God desires to do for you.
Beloved, if God gave you the desire of your heart in the way you think He should do it, He would be robbing you of a blessing.
Your God loves you too much to allow you to settle for less than. He wants to give you everything He’s planned for you.
So the next time you find yourself stumbling in the darkness, try practicing gratitude. Know that the blackness you see is merely the result of your limited ability to understand, but there is something waiting for you just beyond the horizon. Something you can’t yet see. Something wonderful. Something perfect for you.
Don’t let logic rob you of your blessing, dear one. Choose to trust God for His very best. When He finally leads you to it, you will likely surrender to worship, because it has blown your mind.
But of course it has. It was designed for you by the One who made you. He alone knows what you really need.
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