Regardless of your beliefs, this passage should make you think.

Isaiah 55:8–11 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither 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. “For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.”

The opening concept is remarkably simple yet profound. If there is a God, then he created the universe and all that is in it — from the vast galaxies and stars down to our exquisite, information-rich DNA. He must have spectacularly immense power and knowledge and exist outside space to do all that. So to say that his thoughts and ways are higher than ours — as the heavens are higher than the earth — is completely logical.

If you are a Christian, those truths should help you work through your doubts and trials. No matter what your issues are, big or small, you can trust that God has a plan that will all make sense one day. We all experience and view hardships that can be challenging to understand, but we can completely trust that Jesus isn’t surprised by any of it. Despite five bouts of cancer, among other things, my faith hasn’t waivered because my faith wasn’t in God giving me a carefree life but in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus.

The rest of the passage reminds us that God’s word turned out just as he wanted it to and that it will accomplish all that he purposes. If he can create the universe and all that is in it, he can surely deliver his word to us as he wishes. So when in doubt, I try to get out of the way and get people to read the Bible for themselves.

And even if you are an atheist, if you are remotely honest, you’d concede that it is possible that there is a God who created all this. You can offer all the objections you like, regardless of their consistency, but to deny that it is possible that there is a creator God would be hubris. I doubt that you could pass a polygraph claiming that. So if it is possible that there is a God — even if you don’t hold to that “hypothetical” scenario, wouldn’t it be logical that a being with that power just might have thoughts and ways higher than yours? And if his thoughts and ways are that much higher than yours, perhaps there are things you won’t fully understand in this life. Meditate on that.

So if you are a believer, I hope that passage gives you great comfort, and if you are a non-believer, I hope it gives you reason to consider the truth claims of Christianity more carefully.