His Higher Ways

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 ESV). I read a true story from the stories of the tragedy of the Titanic. The Clark family hailed from Scotland, but they had a dream of immigrating to America. To that end, they scrimped, struggled and saved until, finally, the family was able to purchase tickets aboard a ship that would take them to a new life in a new land. Then, as often happens to our well thought-out plans, seven days before they were to leave, the family's youngest son was bitten by a dog. It wasn't a bad bite, but it was enough for the local doctor to hang a "Quarantine" sign on the family's door. You see, there was a chance, a small chance, he had contracted rabies. The ship was to sail in one week, while the boy was shut away for two. The cold, hard fact was this: they were staying behind when the ship sailed. Mr. Clark did not do well with the bad news. He was frustrated with his innocent son and he was furious with God. His dark mood grew darker on the day the ship left harbor and it stayed that way until April 15th. April 15th was the day they found out the ship upon which they had booked passage, the Titanic, had gone down, and taken with her the lives of more than 1,500 passengers. Instantly, Mr. Clark's attitude changed. The Titanic's news had him hugging his son and thanking his Lord. They had been saved and tragedy was transformed to triumph. Haven’t you found this story to be repeated in your life or someone you’ve known? It has in mine. No, most of us haven't booked passage on the Titanic, but we do make our plans and when those plans have to be disappointingly cancelled, we can get upset, sometimes lashing out at others and the Lord. Now if that story is your story, then I would encourage you to think upon this: the Lord, whose ways and thoughts are far above ours, is always going to do the right thing for us. He who sent His Son into the world to be offered as our ransom is not about to do anything but good in our lives. Even those things that make no sense; those things that seem to have no good end are the things that God use to bring great blessing into our lives. Often it takes a while to see it; but, His love and grace are limitless and He can be trusted. He can be always be trusted to do the right thing, the best thing, the Godly thing. And we will eventually see that, if we look at things through His eyes. Give it a try!