His Ways Are Higher

Sitting and reflecting, I see the law, and then I see the heart behind the law.

For example, the Israelites were instructed to tithe in the Old Testament, but after Jesus's death and resurrection, tithing is no longer instructed.

Instead, what's instructed is what should have been the heart behind tithing in the first place – to give to God by caring for and loving His people, and this often means using the money He gives us to do just that.

It's easy sometimes to slip back into the mindset of the law. It's more tangible. It's surface-level and doesn't force us to dig any deeper.

And that's one of the main problems with it.

God is a God of depth. He has no floor or ceiling. He continues without end, infinite and bursting through our conscious minds.

It can feel like a relief when we try to control Him, putting Him into our own equation. If we do A and B, then He'll always give us C. It's like thinking that if we tithe and check all the boxes, then nothing bad will ever happen.

We'll always be "safe."

I wonder what the early Christians who were sawn in two would think about that. Or Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who remained loyal to God regardless of whether He would have rescued them from Nebuchadnezzar's fiery furnace or not.

As these followers understood, there is no "safe" with our Lord, and praise Him for that. He will love us thoroughly, those who seek to please Him, and continue to test us to sanctify us and make us holy.

And more often than not, this involves the unexpected, the hard to understand.

As it says in Isaiah, His ways are higher than ours, and in that I'll thoroughly rest, seeking His heart as He purifies mine.