"For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. 9 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
Since my time in Costa Rica, I've been thinking about this verse a lot lately. You see, a year ago at this time, I had my entire life planned out and it looked RADICALLY different from where I am now. I wasn't planning on being single or still living at home. I wasn't planning on having my ministry focused on the Hispanic community both domestically and abroad. I definitely wasn't planning on having everything I dreamed about, everything I held firmly in my grasp, ripped right from my fingers.
At first I didn't understand it. How could God take away my dreams, my plans? What on earth was He doing with my life?
And in the midst of the chaos, in the confusion, He allowed me to walk through doors I never even saw open. An internship at a clinic working with the most amazing people. Volunteering as in assistant ESL teacher with a supervisor and students who taught ME something every time I walked in that classroom. Incredible friendships with people who had been there all along, but who I never paid attention to. Just to name a few.
As if that wasn't enough, God opened the door for me to travel to Costa Rica again with a scholarship that paid for literally EVERYTHING. And while I was there, my dreams began to change. My focus in life began shifting. Even though I was there to teach English, they taught me even more. About life. About love. About trusting God even when nothing is going your way. I couldn't help but leave changed by the experience.
At the very end of my time there, all I could do was stand in awe at everything God had done for me and everyone He had introduced into my life. All of the doors He opened and that He keeps on opening every single week.
It was during this time that I understood WHY I had to go through the pain, the heartache. WHY my dreams and my plans had to be torn to shreds. Because God knew they weren't good enough. He knew that His plans were so much bigger and greater and so blessed that I couldn't possibly settle for my own.
I'm not saying it's easy. There are days I struggle to let go of my will and trust that God knows what He's doing. But ultimately, I know that He wants what is best for me. That He is FIGHTING so I can have the very best. And all I have to do is keep seeking His face, keeping trusting in His dreams, His plans.
Because His ways and His thoughts are definitely higher than my own.
