Isaiah 55:6-9 - God's Word Never Fails

Written ~ 12-14-2023

Isaiah 55:6-9

⁶Seek the Lord while you can find Him.
    Call on Him now while He is near.
⁷Let the wicked change their ways
    and banish the very thought of doing wrong.
Let them turn to the Lord that He may have mercy on them.
    Yes, turn to our God, for He will forgive generously.

⁸“My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the Lord.
    “And My ways are far beyond anything you could imagine.
⁹For just as the heavens are higher than the earth,
    so My ways are higher than your ways
    and My thoughts higher than your thoughts.”

There will come a time, Jesus will come back, then judgement will come down of each life. As a believer and follower of Jesus Christ, I long for the day that my Savior returns to bring me home. Until then, I will be diligent in whatever He calls me to do while here. For the non-believer however, time will run out. If a decision has not been made to follow Jesus, either before death, or before the return of Christ, it will be too late. That’s why when we read verses 55:6-7 those words really need to sink in…

⁶“Seek the Lord while you can find Him.
    Call on Him now while He is near.
⁷Let the wicked change their ways
    and banish the very thought of doing wrong.
Let them turn to the Lord that He may have mercy on them.
    Yes, turn to our God, for He will forgive generously.”

Once Christ has returned it will be too late to seek the Lord and call on His name. Right now, God is near to those who call on Him. The instant a heart cries out to the Lord, He will respond, forgiving sin and giving eternal life. Verse 55:3 says, “Come to Me with your ears wide open. Listen, and you will find LIFE.” This is a life decision, this isn’t something you can just toy around with. It is important to get right with God while you are still on this earth. You do not want the judgement of eternal death to be your future. When verse 55:7 says, “Let the wicked change their ways…” this is a beckoning to the non-believer, this is someone who has not given their life over to the Lord. Before Christ has entered into the heart of a sinner, God sees us as wicked and He cannot look upon wickedness and evil. The Savior, Jesus Christ must enter into that life, create something brand-new in the heart of that non-believer… then look what will happen, verse 55:7b,

^7b“Let them turn to the Lord that He may have mercy on them.
Yes, turn to our God, for He will forgive generously.”

Please listen, just like verse 55:3 says, “Listen, and you will find LIFE.” God is so gracious and so full of mercy that no matter what you have done, even if you think your actions have been too bad or you have said things too horrible, God will forgive. Verse 55:7b says, “He will forgive generously.” The only thing He is waiting for you to do is to “Turn to the Lord” and “…banish the very thought of doing wrong…” It’s time to give your heart to you Lord.

It may be that we struggle with the “Why?” question. We can’t wrap our heads around why God would have bad things happen in our lives or why stress and depression seem to dominate our minds. Think about it, think about what’s going in your life right now, it is not the Lord who has created that stressful situation, we have done that all on our own by not obeying God’s voice. We fall into depression because we may not be seeking the will of God, or we are not trusting the Lord, we are not handing things over to Him. Our human brains are magnificent, but they do not have the capacity to know everything that God can do. By limiting God when we try to understand Him by using human boundaries, we will get overwhelmed. That’s why I absolutely LOVE what the Lord says in verses 55:8-9,

The Lord makes it quite clear in those two verses that we cannot expect Him to do things the way we want them to be done. We may think that what we want to happen in our lives is good, but when God looks at your life, He sees a much grander view of things. We need to trust He knows what He is doing. It’s difficult, we think our lives could be so much better if just this “one thing” would change. But you know what? It might be that God is working in a completely different area of our lives and waiting for change in “that” area before He will allow that “one thing” to change. That’s why I encourage all of us to remain in the Word of God. Reading and studying the Scriptures each day will help so greatly on the days we feel a little lost or not listened to. The Lord is telling us in verse 55:8, “My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts…” It’s an adjustment, right? We need to “think outside the box” so to speak. Maybe in situations where we have always tried to do things our own way and it just doesn’t turn out the way we planned, well… it’s time to do it the Lord’s way. That could mean you need to stand a side and let the Lord work. Don’t get in His way, don’t be a back seat driver.

The Lord says, “My ways are far beyond anything you could imagine…” Remember when I said even though our brains are magnificent but do not have the capacity to know what God can do? This verse right here confirms that, “…beyond ANYTHING you could IMAGINE…” We just can’t compare our thoughts, our plans, our ways to those of the Almighty God.

So if you are one of those people who is holding out until the very last second before giving your heart to the Lord… maybe it’s because you are waiting for change to happen in your life… but, it could be that God, the Almighty Creator of the Universe is waiting for you to make a change before He will. “…My ways are higher than your ways, and My thoughts higher than your thoughts.” You cannot outthink God. You cannot plan better than God. You cannot go along “doing life” all on your own without the wisdom of God.

Moving forward… when we pray to the Almighty God, our Father in Heaven, maybe we need to humble ourselves by acknowledging we don’t know everything. We like to think we know better than God. But we don’t. Let’s turn to the Lord so He will have mercy on us, forgive us and bring His grace into our lives with great abundance! Keep in mind, when you are thinking over whatever is going on in your life right now… Is it a stressful situation? Could be. A confusing situation? Probably. Is it a situation leading to depression? Maybe. But all of these things that are clouding our minds, all of it can be handed over to the Lord and in His infinite wisdom He will take care of it.

Through faith, believing in and accepting Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior is the first step. After that, walking side by side with the One who saved you will bring change to your life, better and more awesome change than you could possibly imagine!

“Seek the Lord while you can find Him. Call on Him now while He is near.”

~AMEN~

To accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior, pray this simple prayer…

Dear Jesus, You know my heart, all the things I have done and said. Please forgive me for my unbelief. Please forgive me for all of my sins. I believe You are the Son of God. I believe You came to earth to die on the cross for my sins. I believe You rose from the dead to give me freedom from sin and death. By faith through believing in Who You Are, I accept You as my Lord and Savior. Come into my life, cleanse this heart of mine, white as snow. Help me not to doubt any longer and breathe life into me, fill me with Your light. Thank You Jesus! Amen.

If you solemnly prayed this prayer, tell at least one person, so they can share in your joy!! I rejoice with you! All the angels in Heaven rejoice with you!

It is very important to me that those who might be reading these journal pages of mine and don’t yet know the Lord Jesus Christ, that you make that decision. Today. Your heart and mind may not understand everything you have been reading, but if you open your heart to the truth of who Jesus is, you will be saved from sin and death. By the Power of the Holy Spirit you will be amazed at how quickly after giving your heart to the Lord your eyes and ears will be opened to the truth.