Woe is Me. I’m in Big Trouble

Good Morning, 

And they (seraphim) were calling to one another: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory.” At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook, and the temple was filled with smoke. “Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.” Is. 6:3-5

Isaiah, in his vision, first sees God as the high, lofty, and seated King, whose majesty cannot be described, and glory cannot be contained. He then comes face to face with the holiness of God and it shakes him to his very core. In that moment he realizes that even on his best day he does not – in fact cannot, measure up. He is completely helpless. And every person who sets foot on this earth faces the same dilemma.

A.W. Tozer says that until we have seen God as He sees us, we are not likely to get very upset about the conditions around us. There is much truth to that because we simply cannot comprehend the holiness of God. It is not some standard God is trying to hold Himself to, but rather is part of who He IS. Remember, God is all He is all the time. His holiness, however, can make us uncomfortable, partly because we have gotten used to unholiness. It is all around us. Yet, without putting ourselves in the place Isaiah finds himself we will never appreciate our inscrutable need for rescuing.

My purpose this week is to allow us to wrestle with the predicament we find ourselves in. If I were to paraphrase Isaiah’s words (sorry if this offends some of you) it would be something like this. “Woe to me! I am completely screwed. I’m a sinful mess and so is everyone around me!”

To sit in our unholiness, while distressing, is key to helping us understand our desperate need for a savior. The beauty of this passage is that we get to see God in His majesty, be reminded of His indescribable holiness and purity, and then be awed by His love, grace and mercy (next week).

I leave you with this from A.W. Tozer’s Knowledge of the Holy:

God’s holiness is not simply the best we know infinitely bettered. We know nothing like the divine holiness. It stands apart, unique, unapproachable, incomprehensible, and unattainable. The natural man is blind to it. He may fear God’s power and admire His wisdom, but His holiness he cannot even imagine.

Question to ponder this week:

1.    In what ways have you become a bit numb to all the unholiness around you?

2.    How do you think you would have reacted in Isiah’s place?

Live on purpose,

Ron Klopfenstein, CPLC