Sermon Illustrations
God’s Thoughts: Far Beyond Comprehension
“For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways,” declares the LORD. “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so My ways are higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts.” Isaiah 55:8-9
To give these verses some perspective, the distance from one side of the universe to the other is an incredible 93 billion light-years. Using this as our measure, God likens the distance between our thoughts and his thoughts to the distance from one side of the universe to the other.
To put that immense number another way, 93 billion light-years is 544 septillion miles (544 followed by 20 zeros). Even if we tried to travel from one side of the universe to the other at the speed of light (5.88 trillion miles a year), it would take an infinite amount of time. That's because the universe will continue to expand whilst you are travelling, even at the speed of light. So, the edge of the universe will remain forever sealed off from you — even travelling at the speed of light.
That means that your best thought on your best day is ninety-three billion light-years short of how great God really is.
Possible Preaching Angles:
Greatness of God; Omniscience of God; Trusting God – The immense wisdom, insight, and love of God should calm our fears. You may not understand your current crisis and worry about the outcome, but God is in control, His love for you is everlasting, His plan for you will happen, and you can rest secure that your Father is watching over you.
Source:
Adapted from Mark Batterson, A Million Little Miracles (Multnomah, 2024), pp. xvii-xviii; Fraser-Govil, Ph.D., Wellcome Sanger Institute, Quora (Accessed 2/23/25)