Do you “see” the Lord?
Pondering "spiritual eyesight"

I have always been amazed at how human beings are able to overcome physical disability. Patients born without eyesight have been able to learn new ways of communication, and been productive members of society. Individuals born without upper limbs have learnt to use their feet to write and feed themselves, in ways many of us can never do.

This is the result of having practice using parts of their body that they may never have thought of using. The question to those of us who are Christ followers is this:
Do we endeavor to develop our spiritual eyesight?

I want to draw a few lessons for us from Isaiah 6, where the prophet received his commission from God.

1 In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the LORD sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple.
2 Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly.
3 And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory.
4 And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke.
5 Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts.
6 Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar:
7 And he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged.
8 Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me.


While this story chronicles Isaiah’s call, it gives some principles that we can use in our own lives.

Firstly, Isaiah “saw” the Lord (v1). Today we may not all get visions like this. God gives this gift to some, while to others, we “see” God in the scriptures, in creation, in the love of fellow believers, in the peace that comes through trusting Him and the like. The way we see will depend on how God has gifted us.

The point is: we must be willing to “see”. We must be willing to allow God to speak to us, in our heart. The prerequisite is the humble and contrite spirit

Psalm 51:17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.

Secondly, we learn that we must recognize our own sinfulness. When Isaiah saw the Lord, he realized his own “smallness”. (v5). One of the attributes of God is His infinitude (as Tozer said). It gives us perspective.

In the realization of his own sinfulness, Isaiah was shown that it is not what we do that brings us into God’s presence, but what He does! Just as the coal was placed on Isaiah’s lips, we see it as the forerunner of the free gift of eternal life given to us through the death of Jesus.

We can see the Lord, if we see our own sinfulness in the light of God’s glory, repent, and then accept his free gift of forgiveness through Jesus. Then, like Isaiah, we can stand before the throne of grace.

Heb 4:16 Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.

Lastly, in this simple study, we learn that once we are called to be God’s child, we are then called to service. (v8). To know Him is to love Him, and to willingly serve. God, is His divine wisdom and providence, has ordained that we his children on earth will do the work of reaching lost souls for Christ. The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few.

Often we think that service involves going into the mission field or into Christian service. Actually, living faithfully according to God’s word is the service required of us. Many will come to know Christ just by being around us and seeing how we live.

Christians have to be people of hope and joy. In this world of uncertainty, that hope and joy will be a wonder to those who do not know the Lord. And if we are called to some service, let us do it. Let not the devil convince us otherwise, or distract us, or deceive us. If there is a conflict between two volunteer jobs, one for the church and the other secular, give priority to the church.

John 4: 35 Say not ye, There are yet four months, and then cometh harvest? behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest.36 And he that reapeth receiveth wages, and gathereth fruit unto life eternal: that both he that soweth and he that reapeth may rejoice together.37 And herein is that saying true, One soweth, and another reapeth.

Question:
Do you see the Lord daily in your life?

The answer lies in the “perspective” lens that you use.

If you look at life with an eternal perspective, and that you are here on earth for a time only, and that there is eternal purpose to what we do daily. If we live with a temporal perspective, then it will be near impossible to “see” God, and know Him.

There is no greater tragedy than to choose to be spiritually blind!

Amen

Dr Joshua Thambiraj MD., ThD