We’ve all been there.
We made a choice; we faced a consequence. We may have also faced regrets.
Whether you personally regretted a moment, conversation, or choice or helped a group member work through their own regretted life decision, Tony Evan has wisdom for these situations.
Can we reverse life’s consequences? How do we find redemption even amid sin and brokenness?
In his new Bible study for group or individual use, Dr. Evans opens up key ideas that we can carry with us as we engage with our groups in 2021. You can begin exploring these ideas through his “Rethinking our Thoughts” personal study excerpted below.
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One of the most important passages of Scripture for each of us to memorize and come to understand the truth within it is found in Isaiah 55:8-9. This chapter speaks to the importance of returning to God so that He will have compassion on you. It urges us to seek the Lord and find Him. To call on Him and know that He is near. It asks us to embrace the u-turn God has for us. But, perhaps even more important than all of that, this chapter reminds us who we are and who God is. We are finite. God is infinite. We see through a mirror dimly. God sees past, present, and future simultaneously. We comprehend little. God comprehends all. We think we know the way. God really knows the way.
“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.”
Isaiah 55:8-9
We can learn two key principles from this powerful passage.
1. God’s thoughts are not our thoughts.
They are higher. Once we realize that God sees so much more than us, we can let go of trying to manipulate things according to our own understanding. God is intimately involved with the minute details of His creation, yet He also stands above all creation. He sees all. He knows all. He comprehends all. Thus, He can consider all. We are finite and can only consider what we have come across at some point in time. In order to experience a reversal of seemingly irreversible circumstances in our lives, we must trust, follow, and obey the One who knows and understands all. We must look to Him and His Word as our ultimate guidance.
2. God’s ways are not our ways.
They are higher. Just as God’s thoughts are beyond ours, His ways are also much more sophisticated than any plan or path we could concoct. God knows all the options on the table, and then some, so we would be wise to let Him lead. If God can guide an entire nation across a sea to escape an oncoming army, He can do anything. He is not bound by time or matter like we are. Look to God to show you your next step in order to reverse the seemingly irreversible scenario you may be facing right now.
In what areas are you relying on your own thoughts and your own ways when you need to rely on God’s thoughts and God’s ways?
This post was excerpted from Tony Evans’ U-Turns Bible Study (session 6). To access two complete Bible study sessions and their corresponding teaching videos for free, please visit Lifeway.com/NewBibleStudies.
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