Isaiah 55:8-9 reads, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts” This verse comes from the Book of Isaiah, one of the latter prophets in the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Old Testament.
Isaiah, whose name means“the Lord saves” is sometimes called the“prince of prophets,” according to the website Bible Study Tools. It’s unclear if he wrote all of the Book of Isaiah, but the events in it are believed to have happened about seven centuries before Christ’s birth. Even for the most devout believers, Pastor Jesse Bradley of Auburn, Washington, told Fox News Digital that God’s timing can feel frustrating.
Bradley is the pastor of Grace Community Church. He said, “How do you respond when your dreams are delayed, your hopes are hindered, and your expectations are erased? Your life is going in one direction, then something happens that you never wanted. It tests you to the core. A person must realize that their plans and preferences are very different than reality and that God’s timing initially doesn’t make any sense.”
Bradley continued, “There is a massive disappointment, and you are tempted to wander down a road of darkness, despair and defeat.” However, the Isaiah verse reminds us that while God’s timing may not align with expectations, it’s better than anything humanity can know. He said, “Delays do not mean denial. A person’s story is not over yet.” Bradley’s own story shows that God’s timing doesn’t necessarily match up with man’s plans.
After playing soccer at Dartmouth College, Bradley pursued a professional career overseas. He revealed, “As a goalkeeper in Zimbabwe, my career ended with a tragic illness.” He added, “I was fighting for my life for one year, and it took 10 years to fully recover.”
Bradley had envisioned his 20s as a decade of athletic achievements, marriage and financial prosperity, yet it was anything but. He said, “As it played out, I experienced many serious and chronic physical symptoms, was battling for my mental health daily, with waves of anxiety and depression, was single and ran out of money — moving into my parent’s basement.”
Bradley offered advice to Bronny James, an 18-year-old basketball phenom who recently suffered a cardiac arrest during practice at the University of Southern California. Right now, it is unclear if James will ever be able to play basketball again.
Bradley said, “We have a timetable in our hearts and minds, and life doesn’t submit to it. God is never contained in our boxes, too. There is a mystery as to what God causes, when God allows, the times God is actually against the outcome as we unnecessarily and cruelly hurt each other, and when the enemy of our souls comes to steal, kill and destroy.”
And while people cannot find the answers to every question, they ” can always choose their responses.” Bradley said, “When you feel like God is moving too slowly or too quickly, you have the option to make some internal and external shifts. Bronny James has time now to listen closely to doctors, his body and God.”