I am reading a really great book right now called, “(Re)Understanding Prayer: A Fresh Approach to Conversation with God” by Kyle Lake. Excellent book so far. Very entertaining. And, very relevant at the same time.
Have you ever read Isaiah 55? No, I mean actually read it? I mean, I’ve read it. I’ve read it lots of times. And I’ve always pulled great things out of it.
“Come, everyone who is thirsty, come to the waters; and you without money, come, buy, and eat!…Pay attention and come to Me; listen, so that you will live. I will make an everlasting covenant with you…For the Lord your God…has glorified you.”
That is some deep, incredible stuff! I don’t know exactly when I first ran across that part of Isaiah 55, but I remember how vibrant it became after I invited God back into my heart and asked him to stay a while. It’s great! Isn’t it?
You know, the next part is pretty great, too. Of course it is. It was written by God, the author of all authors. I’m not exactly a critic when it comes to His works. But read Isaiah 55: 6-9:
“Seek the Lord while He may be found; call to Him while He is near. Let the wicked one abandon his way, and the sinful one his thoughts; let him return to the Lord, so He may have compassion on him, and to our God, for He will freely forgive. ‘For My thoughts are not your thoughts, and your ways are not My ways. For as heaven is higher than earth, so My ways are higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.”
I used to read that and say, uh-huh, yeah, wow, that is really neat. I don’t think I ever knew exactly what to make of it. I mean, I think I always found it kind of condemning. Like God was calling me out about being human, you know? But then I read this prayer that Kyle Lake wrote in his book to accompany that text:
“God, I hold fast to You right now for who You are, knowing full well that at this moment You are not like me and I am not like You. Right now, my thoughts are not Your thoughts, my ways are not entirely Your ways, my values are not entirely Your values. But, God, I still cling to You, and I approach my future amid this inevitable conflict of interests between Your ways and Your thoughts, and my ways and my thoughts. And, when Your ways and Your thoughts conflict with mine, I will strive to be the one who changes.”
Maybe it is just this phase in life I find myself in that helps me to suddenly really understand this. I don’t really know. It feels like I’ve been gone for a while though. I have still been doing my daily reading, I have still been doing some prayer throughout the day, but somehow there is this distance. I still ask for guidance. I still feel guided at times. But you know, still there is this incredible and unbearable distance. This passage, and the prayer that has shed new light on it for me, helps me to see what made that distance so possible: me. And, its okay. I AM human. I am NOT God. That’s why this distance happens. I can’t be perfect like Him, I can only strive to be more like Him. What is important is that I recognize the distance, evaluate it, and MOVE! I am the only one that can move closer to Him. He always stays right there. Whether or not he is within reach is up to me.
t0nya
