GOD IS GOD AND YOU ARE NOT

WISDOM FOR LIVING DAILY DEVOTIONAL

APRIL 27, 2023

TOPIC: GOD IS GOD AND YOU ARE NOT

BY T. O. BANSO

“Remember the former things of old, for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like Me” (Isaiah 46:9 New King James Version).

Steven Curtis Chapman, an American contemporary Christian musician, sang a song titled “God is God.” The chorus says, “God is God and I am not. I can only see a part of the picture He’s painting. God is God and I am man. So I’ll never understand it all for only God is God.” Note the phrase “God is God and I am not.”

God, talking about Himself in the Bible, repeatedly uses the phrase “I am God.” (Genesis 35:11; 46:3; Psalm 46:10; 50:7; Isaiah 43:12; 45:22; 46:9). He says in Hosea 11:9 that He is God and not man. God is God and you are not; He is God and I am not. Understanding this will help us a lot. Accepting that you are a man and not God will help you in your relationship and walk with God. It will give you peace in dealing with some affairs of life, which you have no control over.

You will never understand some issues in life or understand it all, no matter how much you try. There are questions you may want to seek answers from God but which you will never get. But you can trust God who understands everything. God has all the answers that you lack but He is not obligated to give you all. Acknowledge that God is God and you are not.

How do you explain that ladies who committed serial abortion got married and have children but ladies who kept their chastity before marriage have difficulty with conception? Some Christians are in such a condition. What explanation do you offer to Christians who have continually obeyed the Word of God, serving Him, yet have waited on God for a long time for the right person to marry? There are similar situations that children of God are in seeking the right answers to concerning their families, health, finances, careers, ministries, and so on.

Luke 1:5-7 says, “There was in the days of Herod, the king of Judea, a certain priest named Zacharias, of the division of Abijah. His wife was of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless. But they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren, and they were both well advanced in years” (New King James Version).

This scripture will make most people uncomfortable. How can a couple be described as righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless yet they had no child? One would have expected that this couple should have no problem at all about conception. If there were couples that should easily have children, they should be among them. But that wasn’t the case.

However, in their old age, God eventually gave them a child, John the Baptist. All along, God had something better in mind for the couple. He wanted to bring to the world through them a child who would be the forerunner of our Lord Jesus Christ. of whom Jesus said that among those born of women, there was no prophet greater than him (Luke 7:28a).

God is God; you are not. He is the Potter; you are the clay (Isaiah 64:8). You may have some questions bothering your mind. He may answer you or He may not. God is God. He didn’t give a direct answer to Job’s questions rather when He, eventually responded, He asked Him a series of questions. In reply, Job said, “I know that You can do everything, And that no purpose of Yours can be withheld from You. You asked, ‘Who is this who hides counsel without knowledge?’ Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand, Things too wonderful for me, which I did not know” (Job 42:2-3 New King James Version).

Job continued, “Listen, please, and let me speak; You said, ‘I will question you, and you shall answer Me.’ I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear, But now my eye sees You. Therefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes” (verses 4-6 New King James Version).

Job’s experience was the case of a righteous man suffering, not because of his sins. It was an irony that Job experienced the tragedy that befell him despite being blameless and upright, feared God, and shunned evil (Job 1:1). God even testified that there was none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who feared Him and shunned evil (Job 1:8; 2:3). So why should such a person suffer the loss of children, property, and health? Job couldn’t understand why. He was unaware of the discussion between God and Satan about him before his troubles.

There are things in our lives or the lives of others bothering us that we don’t understand. Sometimes, when people ask us questions about such things, we find it difficult to defend God! Maybe God doesn’t need us to defend Him. He can defend Himself if He chooses to.

Whatever the case, we must understand that God is God and we are not. He knows what we don’t. He understands what we don’t. We are myopic; He is not. He has the big picture, we don’t. He knows what He is doing; many times, we don’t know what He is doing. He is God; no man is. He is God and you are not. “‘For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,’ says the LORD” (Isaiah 55:8 New King James Version). Jeremiah 10:6 says, “No one is like you, O Lord; you are great, and your name is mighty in power” (New International Version).

When God was through with Job, He restored his losses and gave him twice as much as he had before (Job 42:10). “Now the LORD blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning; for he had fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, one thousand yoke of oxen, and one thousand female donkeys. He also had seven sons and three daughters” (verses 12-13 New King James Version). God had always known how Job’s issue would end.

God is God and you are not. Hannah wanted a child like other women. But God had a better plan for her. There was a reason for her bareness or delay in conception. God didn’t want to give her just a child; He wanted to give Israel a great prophet through her. But Hannah, her husband, and her rival, Peninnah, who provoked her severely, to make her miserable, didn’t know about this. Eventually, God gave Hannah the Prophet Samuel and five other children (1 Samuel 2:21). She was no more barren.

God is God and you are not. You can only see a part of the picture He’s painting because you are man, not God, and you will never understand it all. The Apostle Paul says in Romans 11:33, “Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out!” (New King James Version). Job 9:10 says God does great things past finding out, yes, wonders without number.

God is God and you are not. You can only know what He tells you or reveals to you. “The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may follow all the words of this law” (Deuteronomy 29:29 New International Version). Nothing is hidden from Him; everything is exposed before Him. “Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account” (Hebrews 4:13 New International Version).

God is God and you are not. After God had opened the womb of Hannah, she said, “No one is holy like the LORD, for there is none besides You, nor is there any rock like our God” (1 Samuel 2:2 New King James Version). Also, David said, “O LORD, there is none like You, nor is there any God besides You, according to all that we have heard with our ears” (1 Chronicles 17:20 New King James Version). And the Bible tells us severally that there is none like God (Deuteronomy 33:26; Exodus 8:10; 9:14; 2 Samuel 7:22; 1 Kings 8:23; Jeremiah 10:7). 

There is no god in heaven or on earth who can do great and mighty acts as His (Deuteronomy 3:24; Psalm 86:8). He declares the end from the beginning (Isaiah 46:10). He is the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, and the Beginning and the End; there is no God besides Him (Isaiah 41:4; 44:6; 48:12; Revelation 1:8, 11; 21:6; 22:13). He says in Isaiah 46:9, “Remember the former things of old, for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like Me” (New King James Version).

God is God and you are not. Trust in God even when you don’t understand what you are going through or experiencing. Isaiah 49:4 says, “I replied, ‘But my work seems so useless! I have spent my strength for nothing and to no purpose. Yet I leave it all in the Lord’s hand; I will trust God for my reward” (New Living Translation). Trust God for your miracle.

God is God and you are not. Trust in Him. He will work all things together for your good (Romans 8:28). At the right time, God will make it happen (Isaiah 60:22b). He is God and you are not. Trust in Him.

TAKE ACTION!  

If you are not born again, you need to give your life to Jesus now. I urge you to take the following steps: *Admit that you are a sinner and you cannot save yourself and repent of your sins. *Confess Jesus as your Lord and Saviour. *Renounce your past way of life – your relationship with the devil and his works. *Invite Jesus into your life. *As a mark of seriousness to mature in the faith, start attending a Bible-believing and Bible-teaching church. There they will teach you how to grow in the Kingdom of God.

Kindly say this prayer now: O Lord God, I come unto You today. I know I am a sinner and I cannot save myself.  I believe that Jesus is the Son of God who died on the cross to save me and God raised Him on the third day. I repent of my sins and confess Jesus as my Lord and Saviour. I surrender my life to Jesus now and invite Him into my heart. By this prayer, I know I am saved. Thank You, Jesus, for saving me and making me a child of God.

I believe you have said this prayer from your heart. Congratulations! You will need to join a Bible-believing and Bible-teaching church in your area where they will teach you how to live your new life in Christ Jesus. I pray that you flourish like a palm tree and grow like a cedar of Lebanon. May you grow into Christ in all things and become all God wants you to be. I will be glad to hear from you. The Lord be with you.

PRAYER POINTS: Father, thank You for being God. Holy Spirit, help me to put my trust in God even when I have questions that I don’t have answers to. I shall not be anxious but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving make my requests known to You. Father, according to Your Word, work all things together for my good. Holy Spirit, help me to wait for the right time for God to make my miracle happen.

(For over 900 in-depth and powerful messages by T. O. Banso, visit www.cedarministry.org).

T. O. Banso is the President of Cedar Ministry International, Abuja, Nigeria.
Phone No: +2348155744752, +2348033113523
WhatsApp No: +2349081295947
Email: cedarministryintl@yahoo.com,
cedarministryng@gmail.com
Website: www.cedarministry.org