HIGH ABOVE
high (adj.): extending to a great distance upward, elevated
above (prep): as distinct from and in addition to; over
“For as the sky soars high above the earth, so the way I work surpasses the way you work, and the way I think is beyond the way you think…” Isaiah 55:9
Above us.
Planes fly, bird soar, clouds form. Higher still the stars burn bright, the planets in turn perfect time, and energy of the universe pulses on.
So much is happening high above our humanness.
That’s how our God thinks, and that’s how he works. WAY ABOVE our thoughts, our work, our ways.
So when we think, “he can’t possibly know and love every single person,” or, “this problem won’t be something God can do anything about,” or, “he doesn’t really do miracles anymore,” we stop short. We cap our faith at the end of our human experiences or understanding and assume that’s the stopping place for God, too.
But it’s not.
Across the world is a woman whose story teaches me about these above-and-beyond ways of our God.
I don’t know Sarah, but I hope I get to meet her someday. As an infant in Africa, Sarah was abandoned and left to die in a garbage pile. She was miraculously rescued, but grew up in extremely difficult conditions. Many years later, as a single mother in Nairobi struggling to keep her own baby daughter alive, hopelessness and loneliness threatened to overcome her. She purchased a small packet of rat poison with the intention of ending her life.
But God sent someone to save her life again. When she was about to give up, a missionary couple found Sarah in the slums of Kiberia. They spent time with her, cared for her community, and brought the hope and love of Jesus to her little part of the world.
Fast forward a few years, and Sarah has become the head trainer and production manager of Jacaranda Creations–a sewing business that empowers women to make clothing, bowls, purses, and school uniforms. She works with the missionaries to pastor and lead more than eighty women as they work and grow together in confidence and faith. There is plenty of work for these women to be able to earn money for their families. Sarah’s daughter, Sheila, runs the medical part of this ministry providing health care and and education to the women and children in this developing community.
The thing I love about Sarah’s story is that even though God’s ways and plans are so far above us, he doesn’t miss us when we are in the garbage pile in the slums. He sees us when we have nothing left. His high-above plans find us in the lowest of places and in our most desperate moments.
And he lifts us up to him.
There are thousands of unique and inspiring stories like Sarah’s. Stories of how God rescues his people from desperate situations, of how he sends missionaries or Sunday School teachers or Young Life leaders to show us love and teach us about him, of how he transforms lives in ways we would never have dreamed of.
True stories that remind us of God’s high-above ways.
Invite Him in:
When it’s impossible to see–or even imagine–what he might have in mind, ask him to expand your faith. Even in the darkest, most confusing or hopeless times, he can make a way and bring good. You can rest in the truth that his love for you reaches far above what you can see or understand. And his faithfulness reaches above the clouds.
To learn more about Sarah’s story: https://jacarandacommunity.com/pages/meet-sarah