"For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,” says 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 55:8-9
Have you ever felt frustrated with God?
You have a God given dream, promise, or calling for your life that you have been pursuing. However, nothing is going the way you thought it would…
You pray to figure out what is going on, but you can’t hear from Jesus on any of it.
Maybe it feels like you’re getting nowhere, or that promise God placed in your heart is lifeless, as if the exact opposite of what Jesus promised you is happening.
Believe me, I completely understand how that feels…
It feels hard to trust God's plan in this situation.
Closer Look at Isaiah 55:8-9
Thankfully, God has given us some insight in His word when we don’t understand what is going on or feel frustrated with our current situation.
In Isaiah chapter 55, God reminds us that his thoughts and plans are higher than any of our plans. But what does that mean?
To me, it means that Jesus has a purpose for our life that is beyond anything we can imagine. I would even venture to say if God showed us exactly what his full plan was, we would probably have a hard time believing it. Just ask Abraham’s wife, Sarah.
How Do You Trust God’s Plan Through the Trial?
Have Faith in God’s Process… He Knows What He is Doing.
If you have a promise or word from Jesus about your future, you have to trust the process or journey you go through to reach that promise.
Look at Joseph in the book of Genesis…
God gave Joseph a couple of dreams about him being a ruler and his brothers and father bowing down to him. His brothers already didn’t like him because their father, Jacob, showed favor to Joseph.
Now they were hearing their youngest brother spouting off this dream of them bowing down to him?! No way that would happen.
So, they faked Joseph’s death, threw him in a pit, and sold him into slavery.
From there, Joseph ended up in Potiphar’s house, where Potiphar’s wife falsely accused him of trying to take advantage of her. Then, Joseph got thrown in jail, where he spent at least two years locked up and forgotten.
Joseph was given two great dreams of him being a ruler, but the exact opposite happened to him.
He could have gotten angry with God, thrown in the towel, or questioned God through the entire time he was in jail. It definitely would have been easy for Joseph to stop trusting God's plan for his life.
Instead Joseph did something that you and I must do when we don’t understand what is going on…
Stay Faithful to God and Pray Through the Trial
God gave Joseph favor with Potiphar and the keeper of the prison because he stayed faithful to God through that whole period.
Of course, that is easier said than done right? It is hard to continue to have faith in a dream or promise from God when the exact opposite is happening.
Here is the IMPORTANT POINT you must understand if it looks like nothing is working out in your favor:
Jesus hasn’t forsaken you; He is positioning you.
Did you get that? Let’s go back to our example of Joseph…
Joseph interpreted the dreams of the chief butler and chief baker while they were in prison, and Joseph’s interpretations came to pass.
This is proof that Joseph stayed faithful to God and continued to have a relationship with Him. There would have been no way Joseph could have interpreted those dreams without God giving him the interpretations.
Two years later, Joseph is called to Pharaoh to interpret two dreams that no one else could interpret. Through God’s help, Joseph was able to interpret the dreams:
This is the thing which I have spoken to Pharaoh. God has shown Pharaoh what He is about to do. Indeed seven years of great plenty will come throughout all the land of Egypt; but after them seven years of famine will arise, and all the plenty will be forgotten in the land of Egypt; and the famine will deplete the land. Genesis 41:28-30
Pharaoh took Joseph out of prison and made him second in command in all of Egypt because he was able to interpret the dream.
It is at this point that Joseph could clearly see God starting to bring to pass the dream He gave to Joseph years ago.
God was positioning Joseph the whole time from the moment he was sold into slavery to the moment he was brought in front of Pharaoh.
This brings me to an important observation…
Be Willing to Pray for and Bless Others
Jesus will sometimes take you through something that doesn’t make sense to position you as a blessing to someone else.
Don’t look at your trial as a curse. Be prayerful and allow God to use you to be a blessing for someone else who is in need.
Just like God positioned Joseph to be a blessing to his family, the nation of Egypt, and the surrounding nations, God will do the same for you if you just stay the course and don’t lose faith.
Jesus Always Keeps His Word
If you have received a promise, dream, or calling from God, there is no doubt that Jesus will do exactly what He said he would do for you.
Even if your promise looks dead, even if the report from the doctor still doesn’t look good, even if nothing seems to be going right…
Jesus will come through and He will bring about great miracles in your life.
Could it be that God is just positioning you through the mess you are currently facing?
Are You Struggling to Trust God's Plan Through the Storm? Try what Joseph did:
And watch Jesus take you through what you are currently facing and to the promise He has for you.
If This Blessed You, Please Share With Your Friends