Notwithstanding what any other “prophet” may have told you to the contrary, Isaiah insists that the way God thinks really is totally, radically, and categorically different than the way you think. Different as in higher. And higher by a universe.
And it follows right along that, if by God’s own Expert reckoning there exists an entire universe of difference between all of His thinking and yours – then the same universe of difference must exist between all of your thinking and His. This highway runs in both directions, day and night:
He doesn’t think anything like you. Ever. And you don’t think anything like Him. Ever.
And just as the measurement from where you now stand to the very end of the universe represents the absolute largest distance that can possibly exist between any two physical objects, so also, Isaiah informs us, the measurement between the way God thinks and the way you think represents the absolute largest difference that can possibly exist between any two spiritual objects.
As is the distance, so is the difference.
So... with that in mind, exactly how far is it from where you stand right now, to the absolute end of the universe?
Get out your ruler and let’s measure it.
Recently, through the Hubble telescope, astronomers gave us our deepest look into space to date, some 13 billion light-years away. That’s an astonishing distance! Take light, traveling at 186,000 miles per second, or 671 million miles per hour, and multiply that by one year of travel time. At that speed, one year of seconds will put us well over five trillion miles down the road!
But don’t stop there. We’re just getting started. Multiply that number again times a staggering 13 billion years of seconds. Now we’re really getting somewhere!
And if you’re in the process of stretching your tape to the very end of the universe like I asked you to, after 13 billion light-years of measuring, you will certainly have earned the right to ask, “Are we there yet?”
But unfortunately, the answer will be, “Nope. Sorry. We’re not even close.” I hope you brought your lunch, because this could take a while. We’ve barely even begun to measure the distance. And consequently, we’ve barely even begun to appreciate the difference.
And actually, if you really stop and think about it, when it comes to measuring all the way to the very end of the universe – 13 billion light-years really doesn’t take you that far.
In fact, if you really stop and think about it, by comparison to your ultimate goal, it really doesn’t take you anywhere at all.
In fact, if you really stop and think about it, it’s actually such a small distance when compared to the whole, that it basically leaves you still parked in your driveway, just thinking about thinking about measuring to the very end of the universe.
At a mere 13 billion light-years of measuring, if you really stop and think about it – you haven’t even left your house yet!
So, instead of measuring any further, just go ahead and hit the retract button on your ruler, and let’s quit right here. No need to go on.
Because even as technologically and scientifically sophisticated as we are today, thousands of years after Isaiah first uttered his proclamation, the distance from here to the very end of the universe still cannot be calculated. It’s just not possible. They don’t make rulers that long. And they never will.
And so we are left to describe it in the same unsophisticated and unscientific way that all those Hubble-less men of old did, as they gazed up into the heavens and pondered the prophets words:
The distance from here to there is, quite simply, immeasurable.
And that’s God’s whole point: as the distance is immeasurable, so is the difference.
There is not just a world of difference between His thinking and yours.
There is an entire immeasurable universe of difference.
And that entire immeasurable universe of difference lies directly between every thought that He thinks and every thought that you think.
Every single thought. Every single time. Without one single exception.
Every thought. Every time. Without exception.
And that fact, if you really understood it, would astonish you beyond measure!