When the Lord Shows Up Part I: Isaiah
I love to read about moments in the Bible when the Lord shows up. It is a wonder and a joy. It is terrifying and beyond exciting. No writer can begin to describe the power and the glory and the brilliance of the moment, but He has imprinted on my heart today a message about these moments.
Earthly appearances by a Heavenly God have some things in common throughout the Bible, but because God deals with each of His children uniquely, there are also dramatic differences.
Take, for example Isaiah. Let your mind and heart take in the spectacular sight when God manifested Himself to Isaiah:
“In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train[a] of his robe filled the temple. 2 Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. 3 And one called to another and said:
“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts;
the whole earth is full of his glory!”[b]
4 And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke.” (Isaiah 6:1-4)
“Wow” is not strong enough! This vision is breathtaking! Through Isaiah’s eyes, we get a taste of the Glory of the Lord, a hint of how God can come in His entire royal splendor, with adoring angels and foundation-shaking power.
The next verses reveal that Isaiah is staggered and humbled by what he has just seen:
“ 5 And I said: ‘Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!’
6 Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. 7 And he touched my mouth and said: ‘Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.’”
When he comes face-to-face with the absolute holiness of God, Isaiah responds as other men of God have. He is completely abashed, almost devastated by the truth of his own sin. This abject repentance is a common response by the humble people God chooses to reveal Himself to in this very real way.
The final part of this stunning encounter is a commission from the Lord, a message He wants to send His people through Isaiah. Now that Isaiah has seen clearly the depths of his own sin nature in the presence of our Holy God, he is equipped to convey to others their wickedness. He wants them to feel the same desperation for God’s purifying touch in their lives. He wants them to be unable to accept what has become the norm for them- dull hearts and a lack of hunger to see and hear Him.
Do you have moments of awareness of the magnitude of the Holiness of God? Do those moments illuminate clearly the sin in your own life in contrast?
God speaks to few people as dramatically as He did to Isaiah, but He still speaks. Next week, we will look at a very different way God revealed Himself to a young boy. God is like that. The way He speaks to you may not look like what happens in my relationship with Him. He knows each of His children by name and knows how to speak to each one. I hope this series “When the Lord Shows Up” will reveal the way God has shown up in the lives of some of His most trusted messengers. I am hoping He will use you and me to be His messengers as well, as we learn the many ways we might hear His voice.