Isaiah 55:8-9 — For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith 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.

Let me say right away that I know that I have not given the whole context of the verses at the head of this devotion. These two, however, unequivocally express the truth that I am focused on today — which is that God is beyond my understanding. I can hear you saying “Well of course!” Let me provide some context.
Myra and I were talking this morning about time. The conversation started with a chance remark, but we were soon into questions like “Was God before time? Didn’t He create time?”. That led into the nature of knowledge …
Paul rightly warns, in his letter to the Colossians, about the dangers of empty philosophizing, so we did stop at least to think if we might be headed down that path. What follows goes a bit further than we did in our chat this morning, but these are the things that (to quote a well-known sportswriter) “I think I think”.
God created us as thinking beings. There’s definitely nothing wrong with thinking! “My thoughts are not your thoughts” might reassure us that we are expected to have thoughts — we are made in God’s image. He has thoughts, we have thoughts.
We don’t absolutely “know” very much. Most of what we know is rough approximation — a model if you like, of how the world is, that allows us to get along. I don’t really “know” the road from Fort Myers to New York — but I have a rough idea, and I know how to get started and as I get along I’ll know more. That’s how a lot of “knowledge” is, and we often supplement it with helpful tools — like maps — that help us to get along.
There are things that we can’t know. We can’t, for example, know what the future holds — at least, not in any great personal detail.
There are things we are better off not knowing. By and large, we are better off not knowing, for instance, the day and moment of our death. (I know I’ll get an argument on that from some people. Fine, pick yourself another example.)
There are things we must know. We must know that some things are dangerous. Above all we must know that God is God, and Jesus Christ is HIs Son, and we must know what is necessary for salvation.
I could continue categorizing knowledge for a while. But I want to say that some knowledge is inherent — it’s built into us, and some is gained by study — treading in paths that others have trod before, and some is gained by thought — exploring for ourselves.
The point is that when you seek to gain knowledge, by study or thought, there should be a reason. And if there is something you don’t know, and cannot discover — the chances are that you don’t have a reason to know. I believe God works on a “need to know” principle, and will give us opportunity to learn anything we need to know. And there are things He knows that we just don’t need to know — so perhaps we’ll stop thinking about the nature of time. Knowing all about it probably won’t lead to salvation or sanctification, so it’s probably not needed.