God is not like me

God is not like me.

Whew.  I said it.

And I am ecstatic that He is not.

Isaiah 55:8-9 tells us, "The Lord says, 'My thoughts are not like your thoughts.  Your ways are not like my ways.  Just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than  your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts'" 

Here's what I know:  God's schedule is different from mine.

If you know me at all - you know that I typically need and want things now.  Not tomorrow.  Today.

I can be very impatient (although to my credit - I am becoming more patient as I get older).

Waiting is not really a big part of my DNA.

And yet God specializes in making us wait.

We continually find ourselves in the "waiting room" of life. 

However, there is a qualifier here:  God puts us in situations where we wait - but he wants us to wait with the hope that something is about to happen.

Trust is probably a good word to throw in here.

He wants us to wait - but trusting in him.

Please know this:  that while we wait - God is doing something in us.  The process is what He is interested in - far more than the end result.

Secondly, God sees things differently than we do.  Where we see problems and disappointment, God sees opportunities.

When we go to God with a problem, expecting him to solve it, he will tell us to take another look.

And usually what we will see is that the problem (or opportunity) is there to help us become more like Jesus. 

Finally, God loves differently than we do.

God's love is perfect.  Flawless.  He never stops loving us no matter what we do.

This is huge:  God loves me the way I wish I could love others. 

God says, essentially, "there are no deal breakers with me."

God is not like me - and (if I can say it this way) I am thankful that He is not like you.

Just a thought for a Thursday.