His Ways!
In Isaiah 55:8-9 the
Lord declares: “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.” That passage of
Scripture became so real to my wife and I in the early 1990’s. We were sitting in the Doctor’s office when
we received the news every couple dreads to here. “You will never be able to have your own
children” the Doctor informed us! For
two people who absolutely love children, that news was devastating! I remember the empty hollow surreal feeling
that filled our souls, as we contemplated life without children, life without a
“legacy!” We were heartbroken, and
shared the dreadful news with our family and closest friends only.
Shortly thereafter, a Pastor Friend of ours
called us to inform us that there was a Young Lady in his church who was
pregnant and wanted to give up her baby to a good Christian couple. He told her about us, and soon we were on our
way to meet her! Our sadness was turning
a corner, or so we thought! We met her,
and she proceeded to “choose” us as her babies Adoptive Parents! We were thrilled! We soon found out that she was carrying a
little boy, and we began making arrangements to receive our son into our
lives! I remember sitting in a
restaurant and giddily talking with my wife about all we needed to get “our
son!” My contribution to this discussion
included a Baseball Glove and a Thompson Chain Reference Bible!
The day of his delivery came, and we were there
at the hospital to pray with the Birth Mother.
He was born, and the hospital hosted for us a “Parents Dinner!” The very next day, his Birth Mother changed
her mind! Again, devastation and
heartache flooded our souls like polluted water! Was this some kind of cruel joke? Were we destined to be childless? Were we suffering for some past sin? So many questions crowded our mind, and
honestly, it was difficult to even “hear” the voice of the Lord. The weeks that followed that devastating news
were filled with a bevy of emotions! We
went through our daily routines mindlessly, kind of on “auto pilot.” You see, we are Pastors, and we had a church
that still needed its Pastors! But how
could we talk about faith and meaning when our own faith was riddled with hurts
that only parents who have lost children can understand?
God was gracious during this time, and the
reality of Isaiah 55:8-9, in time, became very real for us. Actually, it wasn’t until eight years later
that we understood just how much “higher” God’s ways were above ours. One day my wife got a call from a woman she
had not heard from in eight years, it was the Birth Mother of the baby boy we
were going to adopt! She was crying, and
explained to us that her son, the one we were going to adopt, had been in a
horrible bicycle accident. He was riding
down a hill, and flipped his bike. The
kick-stand penetrated his eye and lodged in his brain! He was in the ICU in a coma and his head was
4-times the normal size! She told us
that the doctors had said that if he lives, he will have severe brain
damage! Then she asked us the
incredible! “Would we please drive the 3
hours to the hospital and pray for the boy!
Our response was…..ABSOLUTELY!
Upon arrival at his hospital room, we were
greeted and thanked by his Mother. We
were instructed by the nurse, that we could go in and pray for him, but that we
had to whisper and could only anoint him on his foot, so as not to arouse him,
causing his brain to have to work!
Emotions, of so many varieties, flooded our souls as we entered his
room! We gently laid hands on his toe,
and began to pray. As we did, we both
felt what seemed like electricity running through our bodies and into his! The power of God was so real, and in that
room! When we finished, we took his
family out for dinner, prayed for them and went home. We smiled and said: “This must have been God’s purpose for what
we went through in the failed adoption!”
However, the real reason came a few days later, when we received a call
from the Mother informing us that the very next day after we anointed him and
prayed for him, his brain swelling was gone, his eye was completely restored,
and there was absolutely no brain damage!
We shouted! No, really, we
shouted at the miracle of God! A few
weeks later, she drove to our house and let us meet this miracle child, who was
at one time, our son! We truly learned
that day that “His ways are not our ways!”
I do not know what you are personally going
through as you read this article, but I assure you that God has everything in
His control! You may not understand the
“WHY’S” of what you are enduring, but you must understand the “WHO!” There are things that you have gone through
that you may never know why you went through them, but rest assured, within the
perfect will and plan of God, there is a reason! Your life matters, and the things you have
endured in the Kingdom of God, have eternal purposes! Trust Him and know that “As the heavens are higher
than the earth, so are His ways higher than your ways!”
Pastor Steve Gardner is the Lead Pastor of Christ the Rock Church
of God in Knoxville Tennessee. You can
visit the Church website at: CtrCog.com
Pastor Steve is also the Author of a blog where he writes on
relevant Biblical issues at:
ReclamationMinistries.com
