Perhaps you’ve heard that God’s ways are higher than our ways, that his thoughts are above our thoughts. You’ve been told that God is so great, and our minds are so small in comparison, that we cannot grasp his motivations or his logic.
I’ve heard well-meaning Christians tell others that God’s ways are beyond us in an effort to bring comfort and assurance. We cannot figure out what God is doing, our lives feel out of control, but don’t worry—God’s thoughts are higher than our thoughts. It’s okay—even predictable—that we wouldn’t track with what God is up to.
But is this what that verse in Isaiah is meant to convey? Are we using this phrase in its proper context? When we learn to read the Bible as a book instead of as an independent collection of sentences and phrases, we’ll find that some of the most familiar passages mean something different than we’ve assumed.
The Context in Isaiah
This passage about God’s ways being higher than ours comes from Isaiah, and it’s worth reproducing a good portion of the passage here.
“Seek the Lord while he may be found;
call upon him while he is near;
let the wicked forsake his way,
and the unrighteous man his thoughts;
let him return to the Lord, that he may have compassion on him,
and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.
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 ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts.” (Isaiah 55:6–9)
Peter has already written about the big-picture structure of Isaiah. Chapters 40–55 hang together, and this passage falls near the end of that section. This portion of the prophecy describes how God will use a Servant to pardon the iniquity of his people.
Crucially, for our purposes, this part of Isaiah is about forgiveness, reconciliation, and the restoration of God’s people.
The Context in Isaiah 55
This chapter begins with God’s famous invitation: “Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price” (Is 55:1). God is calling those who hear to live by means of an everlasting covenant with him (Is 55:3).
Those who listen should “seek the Lord” and “call upon him” (Is 55:6). The call is to the wicked and the unrighteous, to “return to the Lord,” for God will “have compassion” and “abundantly pardon” (Is 55:7).
The often-quoted verses (Is 55:8–9) are connected to verses 6–7 by the word “for.” This is a simple but powerful observation. God’s thoughts are different than our thoughts—this explains his eagerness to welcome and forgive. Our ways are not his ways, because we are neither in a position to pardon the repentant, unrighteous man nor are we inclined to show this compassion.
The chapter ends with an explanation about how God intends to accomplish this plan of forgiving those who forsake their wicked ways. It will happen through his word; it will go forth, accomplish his purposes, and not return to him empty (Is 55:11). As a result, the people rejoice, and nature will “break forth into singing” (Is 55:12).
Our Compassionate God
In terms of kindness, God’s ways are high above ours. Isaiah mentions God’s compassion three times in the previous chapter (Is 54:7, 8, 10), so this is a familiar theme by the time we reach chapter 55.
Let’s return to our earlier question. Yes, God is infinitely wiser and more complex than we are; his plans are beyond our ability to unravel. But when Isaiah writes about God’s thoughts being higher than our thoughts, he’s referring to God’s welcoming love to repentant sinners. We should worship and adore the God whose compassion overflows in this way that ours does not.
Context matters.
For more examples of why context matters, click here.
Thank you for the insight God bless you.
I hate to say this, but you’ve missed the context yourself. Let me explain. Let’s start with Isaiah 53:4-5, it says that He bore the illnesses. However, the word illnesses in Hebrew can be translated as griefs. People would be saying illnesses was a better translation. However, again, the translation as griefs is better and here’s why. What is it that grieves you? Anything negative. He paid for it. Not just sickness. Let’s look further. Verse 5 says that He was bruised for our iniquities. Meaning sins. Then it says, chastisement of our peace. Meaning mental health and emotions. By His stripes we are healer. Means our body. If the previous two are absolute than shouldn’t the last one also? If it weren’t, shouldn’t ut say so? Then you have 2 Corinthians 1:20. The previous verses talk about how Paul and his company are keeping their promises because Jesus would’ve done the same. Verse 20 goes on to say every promise of God is in Him yes and in Him amen to the glory of God through us. So, since God promises us, He always says yes and not no. And if a promise were not fulfilled,He wouldn’t get glory from it so it’s not Him Who’s saying no. The last mentions how we, the believers (con. Mark 16:17-18), speak (con. Mark 11:22-24) and act to bring His promises to pass. Since the Bible also says God is not a man and therefore He cannot lie and one who breaks a promise is a liar, we cannot assume that anything that is promised isn’t absolute. Psalm 103:2-3 says He heals all diseases and forgives all sins. James 5:14-15 says the prayer of faith shall save the sick. Meaning it’s a promise as shall is the strongest word in any language. No matter how you approach it, this is a promise from God and all things of God are absolute. This isn’t me being angry and more like a loving rebuke. This is a call to repentanc.
Whoops, I didn’t mean to reply to you specifically. I was trying to respond to the author of the article itself.
Amen