Many of the Lord’s teachings in the Bible are counterintuitive-it contradicts our natural inclinations! How do you feel when you hear: “love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you”? When we encounter roadblocks or difficulties in our pursuits in life, the solutions our minds habitually develop are often different from what God would have us do; the explanations we are prone to give are often different from what God gives. Hence it is written “for my thoughts are not your thoughts, my ways not your ways, says the Lord.”
Should we then be miserable because God’s ways are higher than ours? Are the Lord’s ways discoverable? Do you know the Lord’s ways are miraculous? Do you wish to discover it and use it for your advantage? If these questions reflect your mind, continue reading slowly…
Isaiah 55:6-9
Seek the Lord while he is still to be found, call to him while he is still near. Let the wicked man abandon his way, the evil man his thoughts. Let him turn back to the Lord who will take pity on him, to our God who is rich in forgiving; for my thoughts are not your thoughts, my ways not your ways – it is the Lord who speaks.
Yes, the heavens are as high above earth as my ways are above your ways, my thoughts above your thoughts.
POINTS FOR REFLECTION
Child of God, even though the Lord’s ways are higher and differs from ours, they are not beyond reach. We can still know it and experience it. For this reason the psalmist prays: “Lord let me know your ways; teach me your path”. Here are four things to do to discover the ways of the Lord and know the will of God in your life.
1. Study and Meditate on the Word of God
There are no two ways of knowing a subject other than studying. Studying involves observation and paying attention to details. Apart from prophetic illumination or revelation, one sure way of knowing the ways and thoughts of God is studying the Bible for it contains the ‘doings’ of God through ages. By carefully observing the patterns in God we can arrive at certainty that God is at work in us and not our human inclinations. No wonder the prophet says “seek the Lord while he is still to be found, call to him while he is still near”.
I don’t have a bible is not an excuse, the bible is everywhere near you in texts and in prints. As studying helps us to abandon ignorance and empowers us with knowledge, so also studying the Bible help us abandon sinful thoughts and empowers us with the divine or heavenly thoughts.
2. Listening to and praying in the Spirit
Listening to the voice of God is a product of meditation. Meditation is possible if and only if we practice the virtue of silence. In silence our hearts are illumined with new thoughts and revelations. If you still experience mind drifts when you’re quiet, you need to make more efforts. You can achieve meditation by focusing on a particular phrase or some words from scripture and nothing else. Keep thinking about it and only about it. Love it, memorise it, feel it and pray silently with it.
Praying in the spirit, or ‘speaking in tongues’ is another way of discovering the mind of God for us. Because we do not know how to pray well, saint Paul urges us to pray in the Spirit because the Spirit searches the mind of God.
3. Seek counsel and be docile to obey
Talking to someone, especially a counsellor or an expert in the area we find difficulty is another way of discovering the way paved for us or the thoughts of God in our situations. However, be careful about those you tell your situations or go to for advice. Not everyone is qualified to hear your problems nor counsel you. Never be a counsel in your own case, always seek advice whenever possible and be docile to obey and follow the good counsels you have received.
4. Avoid Idleness at all cost
An idle man is the devil’s workshop says a popular adage. Idleness creates the opportunity for depression, aggression, drug and substance abuse, suicide and a host of all other vices. Idleness is one temptation the devil poses our way in times of expectation for a transformation in our life.
God abhors idleness. It not only make us unproductive but make us go contrary to our purpose or destiny instilled in our Divine mandate to “be fruitful and multiply, fill the earth and conquer it.” It is a deadly (capital) sin! No wonder in the parable of the landowner in Matthew 20:1-16, not wanting anyone to stay idle, the landowner went out at the eleventh hour to invite workers into his vineyard:
“Then at about the eleventh hour he went out and found more men standing round, and he said to them, “Why have you been standing here idle all day?” “Because no one has hired us” they answered. He said to them, “You go into my vineyard too.”
What are you waiting for? Are you still hesitating to get into the ‘vineyard’? Get your hands and mind busy doing something! Don’t wait until you get the approval for your loan or visa applications. Don’t wait till you get that dream job! Don’t wait till you find a life partner! Don’t wait till you get the capital for that business! Don’t take a ‘No’ for an answer, rejection as excuse, nor failure as a reason to be idle! Make plans now and start laying the foundation of your success.
TASK
Have you learnt how to discover the ways of God now? Do you feel moved to begin your journey into this miraculous way? What do you think is preventing you? Brace up now, don’t waste any time let’s do it. Let’s begin the walk together: fix a day now for bible study when you read and meditate on a bible verse, or choose a day to read one prayer reflection from this website. God bless your resolution. Amen.
PRAYER
I pray for you, may the Lord be kind and compassionate upon you to discover His ways daily as you seek Him, in Jesus name. AMEN.
Thank you, Fr.
God bless your work.