He is altogether different than me

I am reading through a book right now, called The School of Christ, by T. A. Sparks.  I was reading and rereading this one section in the beginning which talks about the "other-ness" of God.
"'For My thoughts are not your thoughts,
nor are your ways My ways,' declares the LORD.
'For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways,
and my thoughts than your thoughts.'"
-Isaiah 55:8-9

So often I think I can try and figure out how the Lord is going to works things out, but He has been reminding me and revealing to me that I cannot predict what is going to happen.  He is altogether different from me and His ways are not my ways.  A couple times recently I prayed for things and expected certain things to come of the prayers... thinking in this way it would lead me closer to Him... and God allowed the opposite to occur.  In my heart my intent was to draw nearer to the Lord, and to be undistracted by the stress of world and the temptations of the flesh.  But instead of making things easier, which I believed would help me draw nearer to Him, He made me face that which was even more difficult.
 ...which at first made me really frustrated.
          ...but in His wisdom through these things He brought me to a further place of desperation for my Lord, with a deeper longing for Him, and a heart that sought Him out more and more.
"in the anguish of childbirth, until Christ is formed in you" -Gal 6:19b

He truly longs for Christ to be formed in us.  For Christ to be fully revealed in us.  Crushing of my flesh and my soul must take place for this to become a reality.  I oftentimes think I know how God would make me into His image.  But in reality, I have not a clue, He is the master builder not I, He is the one working in me, not I.  He knows just the places that need chipping away at .. He knows just the times I need suffering to bring me back to Him, just the right amount of ache to keep me on my knees.
A brother once shared... "it is a good thing that this world is so terrible, otherwise we would grow too fond of it" ... the Lord beckons us; "Grow fond of Me..."


“Behold, I go forward, but he is not there,
    and backward, but I do not perceive him;
⁹ on the left hand when he is working, I do not behold him;
    he turns to the right hand, but I do not see him.
¹⁰ But he knows the way that I take;
    when he has tried me, I shall come out as gold."
-Job 23:8-10

His ways are truly altogether different from mine... but they are indeed higher.  I do not know, but I pray he helps me trust His thoughts.  I do not see, but I pray that I can trust in Him to be my Vision.
I pray that whatever must me done to make me like Him, would be done.
May we have this heart as the Lord Jesus, "Not my will, but Thine be done".
Have Thine own way in us Lord, that You might be exalted in our lives and in your Church, that Christ might be formed in us.