Beyond My Thinking

A recent teenage dilemma has this mother thinking. So much so, that a few days ago when I began exploring the situation with Chris, I unknowingly said to him, “And then I thought…” four different times within a three minute window. He looked at me and smiled as he said, “You think a lot.”I know I’m not alone in this. Through my study and teaching of Miss Perfect, I’ve realized most women think a lot. We think and rethink countless scenarios in our mind. Last week, as I was writing my blogs on breaking cycles of frustration, I did a search of the word “thought” in Scripture. I was blown away by what I found.As I’ve urged us in my most recent posts, we must take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ. In the most practical way, we can see the result of not taking our thoughts captive when we allow a lie to take root in our thought life. We often see this played out in the context of marriage. It can be as simple as when your husband does something that bothers you. Instead of dealing with that single offense by taking it to the Lord and reconciling, you allow your thoughts to grow from a seed of questions to a forest of negativity toward your husband. At Highpoint, we talk frequently about how we need to recognize a lie as it enters our mind. We must then renounce the lie and replace it with truth.

Recognize the lie. Renounce the lie. Replace the lie.

[bctt tweet="Recognize the lie. Renounce the lie. Replace the lie."]However, there’s a whole other dimension to our thoughts that I was reminded of through my study last week. It was a needed reminder to me that it’s easy for us to forget the pecking order. At different points in time, we can get frustrated and even angry at God. We don’t understand something and we act like He owes us an answer… yesterday. We forget we actually answer to Him, not vice versa.Scripture reminded me that we quickly think too highly of ourselves. The reality, though, is that God knows our thoughts but we don’t know His. In our home these days, we’ll hear things like, “I’m almost seventeen” as a reason why they should be able to do something. We usually smile. Somehow, they think that’s going to help. They’re actually giving us more ammunition.I wonder if God smiles and shakes His head (more kindly than me, granted) when we think we have the right to be mad at Him. My teenager can’t possibly understand our decision making at this stage, but the gap is nothing compared to the one between our thinking and God’s.Check out just a few of the occurrences where Scripture reminds us of our place:

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 waysand my thoughts than your thoughts.(Isaiah 55:8-9)

But they do not knowthe thoughts of the LORD;they do not understand his plan,that he has gathered them as sheaves to the threshing floor.(Micah 4:12)

For who knows a person's thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.(1 Corinthians 2:11)

In our egocentric, American way, we can respond with a bruised ego and wonder why He gets to be superior. Instead, however, I challenge you to consider that when the legitimate why’s of life come your way, you remember that there’s an entire spiritual realm we cannot grasp. Just because you don’t understand God’s ways doesn’t mean you can’t trust Him.[bctt tweet="For God's thoughts are not our thoughts."]