My friend Richard Blackaby wrote a book called The Ways of God. The Bible reminds us again and again that God’s ways are not man’s ways. But in looking for God’s ways, we can easily get confused.

We see the Lord work in someone’s life, and we assume that is the way God always works. We confuse God’s acts with His ways. To be honest, most of us would rather see God’s acts than know the Lord in an intimate way that reveals His ways.

In the Old Testament, the defiant and arrogant Israelites whom Moses led were glad to see God’s acts, but they didn’t want to know the Lord as Moses did. For example:

When the people heard the thunder and the loud blast of the ram’s horn, and when they saw the flashes of lightning and the smoke billowing from the mountain, they stood at a distance, trembling with fear. And they said to Moses, “You speak to us, and we will listen. But don’t let God speak directly to us, or we will die!”

Exodus 20:18-19 NLT

Yes, these same people had seen the mighty acts of God. The parting of the Red Sea. The water from the rock. The manna each morning. Miraculous act after miraculous act. But they shied away from really knowing God’s ways. As one commentary put it, “His acts are spectacular, but His ways are life.”

Even the Psalmist pointed out the different activities of God.

He made known His ways to Moses,

His acts to the children of Israel.

Psalm 103:7 NKJV

The New Living Translation gives us a deeper understanding:

He revealed his character to Moses

and his deeds to the people of Israel.

Here’s what it boils down to. Do we want to only receive God’s acts, or do we want to know Him more intimately? If we don’t make the connection between God’s acts and His character, His ways, we will not understand God’s nature, which drives His activity.  We will, like the Israelites, want to see the Lord’s activity, maybe even His miracles, and not fully comprehend the very nature of our Lord that results in those acts.

Let me try to explain it in simple terms. As parents, we often do things for our children. They might get excited about a gift or an activity. Later, when they want that gift again and you don’t give it to them, they might think you don’t love them. What parent hasn’t heard a child blurt out, “I hate you,” to a parent when they don’t get their way?

That child is seeing the acts of their parents but doesn’t fully comprehend their parents’ ways…the love that is behind the acts.

So what does this have to do with you and me? If we don’t understand the nature of our Lord, we may attempt to do the right thing but do it the wrong way. We may observe how God acted in a situation and attempt to replicate that outcome in our lives and ministries. That may be what God did, but in your situation, it may not be God’s way for you.

It is interesting that Jesus healed several blind people but did not do it the same way each time. One time, He spat in the dirt and made mud, which He placed on the man’s eyes. Another time, He simply touched the man’s eyes. Different acts. Same results.

Our prayer should be like the Psalmist’s:

Make your ways known to me, Lord;

teach me your paths.

Psalm 25:4 CSB

God’s best,