On knowing: the thoughts of the Lord and his plan - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him and what came to my heart and mind in Micah 4:12,

"They do not know the thoughts of the Lord; they do not understand his plan..."

Here is what I find a startling reality: many do not know the thoughts of the Lord or understand his plan when it is available to all of us. They can know these things, as the Lord has provided us his word, through his prophets, such as Micah, in our Bibles. Everyone can know the thoughts of the Lord and his plan.

To be sure, the Lord's thoughts are not our thoughts. We are not God and we don't think like him. In Isaiah we read, "'For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,' declares the Lord. 'As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.'" 

He alone is God and to know his thoughts required him to reveal them to us. He wants us to know what he is thinking and what he is doing. Here is the issue: God has provided all we need to know of him and his agenda, his plans in the pages of Scripture, however, we have to make the choice to learn of these things ourselves. If we take no interest, if we avoid learning of him, if we cling to our sin and reject him, we will never know what he is thinking and what he is doing.

The surprising thing I have found over the years is that it is the very group of folks who do not invest the time, energy and effort to learn of God that seem to be the most adamant that they know all there is to know. They know the things of God better than you and me. (Sometimes I suspect they feel they know the things of God better than God!) They tell us what it is they think they know of God, or even question his existence, and insist we subscribe to it. In their ignorance of the Scriptures, they think the rest of us don't know any more than they do. The condescension of these folks is something to behold! How adamant are the cults! How adamant are those who cling to "denominational distinctives"! How adamant are the atheists and the enemies of Jesus Christ!

Truth requires work and truth requires courage. Many don't invest the time, and many are fearful and avoid the truth. Many cling to their sin and simply reject the truth. The sad reality is that none of this is necessary. We all can know the thoughts of the Lord and we all can understand his plan (which, by the way, is that he is building his kingdom, his family, in this age.)

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!

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Trevor Fisk

trevor.fisk@gmail.com