We had a great meeting Sunday night! We began by eating a meal together and getting to know each other better. Then we circled up and discussed Isaiah 6:1-8. In this passage, Isaiah had a vision of himself in the presence of God in the temple. Isaiah’s reaction was that of absolute humility because he recognized not only his own sinfulness but also the sinfulness of the people he lived among.
It is easy in our day and age, just like it was back then, to compare our self to others to boost our self image and make us feel good about our life. The problem with this is that we can always find someone lesser than us to make us feel good about ourselves. There is always someone who has committed a worse sin or who is not as nice or generous, or good looking, etc, etc. We also try to ignore or blow off those who are seemingly more successful, popular, or cool, because they make us uncomfortable. I think this is why many people try to ignore God. His standard of holiness is so high that we know we can never attain it, in and of ourselves. If we ever take the time to compare ourselves to God, then we realize how truly sinful we are, despite our best efforts to live a holy life.
That’s God’s point though; we cannot be holy in and of ourselves. He wants us to realize how holy He is, how majestic He is, how awesome He is, and humbly fall on our knees before Him in worship. God wants us to recognize his preeminence, His surpassing greatness above all others. When we do, God speaks to us.
Isaiah recognized how pitiful he was compared to God but God cleansed and forgave Isaiah’s sin because of the humble, repentant attitude of his heart.
It was after this cleansing that God spoke, saying, “Whom shall I send? Who will go for us?”
Where did God want to send someone? He needed someone to go to the children of Israel, who had turned away from Him (again), to proclaim His message to them.
I imagine Isaiah could have said nothing, scared of what it might mean, scared of what it might cost him, but he didn’t. He said, “Here am I. Send me!”
As a church, our top core value is the preeminence of God. We must acknowledge God’s surpassing greatness and constantly compare ourselves to Him. We must always be listening to His call and make sure we’re in the center of His will for us, just like Jesus did (see John 6:38). This is the only way we’ll make the impact on the world that God wants us to make.
Henry Blackaby, in his book What The Spirit Is Saying To The Churches, says, “How desperate is the need in our world for churches that hear and follow what the Spirit is telling them! The world in our day wants to God at work through His people, but unless we hear and obey in the things He assigns (things that only God can accomplish), the world will not experience Him, they will see only ‘religion’ and be turned away” (p.18).
Blackaby goes on to say, “A repenting church is God’s condition for revival, and it is always corporate repentance! God has always desired to work through His people, but they have not always recognized His initiative in their lives or His activity around them. But for those churches who repent – those who take time to hear the Spirit; to believe what He tells them; to adjust their plans, structures and programs to Him; and then to follow the Lord regardless of how impossible it may seem- these are the churches that will be spiritually renewed and that will experience God’s mighty deeds through them to bring the lost world to Himself in a great spiritual awakening” (p. 20).
Have you humbly bowed before God lately, comparing yourself to Him, confessing any sin and listening to his voice? God is more than worthy of our worship and He is still calling. What is your answer to Him?
