Isaiah 55:8-9 remind us, “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor 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.”
You may have had one of those wooden block toys when you were young that had a small wood mallet and square, circular, and triangular blocks that you pound into the holes that match the shape. People have said, “You can’t pound a square peg into a round hole”. And they were partially correct. You can’t easily pound a square peg into a round hole, because it doesn’t fit. If you take a sledge hammer you may be able to FORCE that square peg into the round hole. However, It will destroy the square peg, and damage and even destroy the round hole – but you can MAKE it happen if you are so inclined.
A lot of times that is what we do with our lives. God obviously has plans for each of our lives, but we don’t sometimes like and agree with His plans or we think our way is better, and so we are bound and determined to MAKE our plans work. What do we end up doing? Damaging and sometimes even destroying our lives. As a Christian, the ONLY way for our lives to be “successful” is when we seek GOD and FOLLOW HIS ways and plans for our life. We have to SUBMIT to His authority!
The times and decisions I most regret in my past are when I have tried to FORCE things to happen MY WAY! God reminds us in the verse above – His ways ARE NOT our ways! And when we learn to SUBMIT to HIS WILL and OBEY HIS commandments, our life will work a LOT better, just like it is a LOT easier to pound a round peg into a round hole – because that peg was made to fit in that hole. Our lives were made to have fellowship with JESUS CHRIST and the ONLY way to truly do that is to SURRENDER EVERYTHING to HIS PLAN! He knows what is best.
I often tell the young people when I’m speaking at FCA meetings that God never asked me if I wanted to have cancer. That was ALL His plan – Not mine! When I was four, one of the first life-changing things to happen was that I gave my life to Him. It was AFTER that decision that I was diagnosed with cancer. After accepting Jesus Christ as my Savior and giving Him control – My life belonged to HIM and He was and is free to do with it WHATEVER He wanted. I didn’t understand what God was doing when I was only four and in the hospital. But now I look back at my life, and I see how God has used my story to impact and change lives all over the world, and I realize and know His WAY is PERFECT!!
God’s ways and plans are not always what we would choose, but He tells us “Trust in the LORD with all your heart And do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He will make your paths straight. Do not be wise in your own eyes; Fear the LORD and turn away from evil.” (Proverbs 3:5-7) He is GOD – and He KNOWS what He is doing!!