I just can’t stop thinking about thoughts these days. My previous post about the internal monologue has got me marvelling at the creative genius of God. I always knew people had different personalities, different perspectives, different experiences; but I never imagined something as automatic as conscious thought could be so vastly different from person to person! We are all created in God’s image, yet the diversity and flexibility He has built into creation extends even to the inner workings of our minds.

As humans we have the ability to communicate with each other better than any other creature on the planet, yet we still struggle to be heard and understood. We are a mystery to each other. We search for the exact words and push the limits of language for the sake of precision, but we can never really share with another person exactly how we are processing ideas and thinking our thoughts. I will never see the world through anyone else’s eyes. I’ll never perceive things the way anyone else does. And neither will you.

“For as heaven is higher than earth, so my ways are higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.”

Isaiah 55:9

If I can’t even understand your thoughts and the way you think them, it really hits home just how far I am from grasping the thoughts of God! In Isaiah 55:9 He tells us, “For as heaven is higher than earth, so my ways are higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.” The Apostle Paul said, “For who knows a person’s thoughts except his spirit within him? In the same way, no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.” (I Corinthians 2:11) Only our own spirit within us can know and understand our thoughts. It’s as if our spirit interprets all the computations of our physical brains for us. And that is something we cannot share with one another. We strive to communicate our thoughts and feelings to other people in words and gestures, but we can’t share our spirit with them.

…no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.

I Corinthians 2:11

Despite our uniqueness, however, and no matter how we think our thoughts or prefer to pray, we are all equally capable of knowing and communing with our Creator. As Christians, Paul goes on to say that we have received “the Spirit who is from God.” And thanks to that amazing gift, we have the mind of Christ within us. His Spirit allows us to understand spiritual truths and words that are just foolishness to someone without this “interpreter”. It blows me away! God shares with us that part of Himself that searches even His deepest thoughts. He shares a part of Himself with us that we can’t share with one another. That’s how much He wants to connect with us! That’s how much He loves us! What an amazing gift! What an amazing God!