A Fresh Vision in Difficult Times
One of my favorite passages of Scripture is Isaiah 6. It reads like this, “In the year king Uzziah died, I saw the LORD, high and lifted up, and the train of His robe filled the Temple”.
To make a proper comparison of what king Uzziah was to the Jewish people we would probably have to meld together arguably the four most beloved presidents since the Second World War: John F. Kennedy, Ronald Reagan, Barack Obama, and Donald Trump.
A Fall of a Leader
Jacob loved Uzziah as much, if not more than, David or Solomon or both. Uzziah had brought Israel through some very tough times. He was their point of reference for their personal, physical, and economic security. His death was a very personal loss for the whole of Israel. and left a deep, long, and painful scar and was mourned for many, many days.
Surely, this beloved man had been prayed for, prayed over, anointed with oil and every possible remedy had been sought after to spare or extend his life. Again, Israel loved Uzziah. In the end, all of their love, adoration, support, and prayers did not move God’s hand nor move God from His Throne.
In the end, Uzziah joined his ancestors, his grandson succeeded him as ruler, and God was still on His Throne. It is only after they had suffered this great physical, emotional, and spiritual loss that Scripture tells us that Isaiah “saw God seated on His Throne” (emphasis added).
Isaiah’s Vision of God
Isaiah’s vision of the Throne room of God was an indescribable scene of Glory and Majesty and perfect Holiness and the train of His robe filled the Temple.
In modern terms, we would say “flying room only”; there was nowhere for anyone to stand: even the angels were forced to worship in mid-flight as they cried out to one another, “Holy, Holy, Holy is the LORD God Almighty, the whole Earth is filled with His Glory”.
It took the death of this great and beloved king for Isaiah, a Prophet of God, to actually see God. He had gone to all the right schools, read all the right books, apprentices with all the right people, and had his theology in order. However, although he had probably received visions from God, he had yet to receive a vision of God.
This great, personal and traumatic loss was the spark that was needed to free Isaiah’s mind and heart to receive this fresh new vision. What he saw was overwhelming and it brought him to recognize how small and insignificant and sinful he truly was in the presence of a Holy God.
This moment of personal loss freed Isaiah from any other bond that would stand in the way of loving God above all things: no wife, no child, no temporal or spiritual leader would ever compare to what Isaiah received on that day from the Lord: a purpose!
Read: 5 Powerful Reasons We All Need Reminders
In that moment where he was engulfed by the presence of the Almighty, and in recognition of his fallen state, God cleansed his lips, transformed his mind, and gave him direction and purpose and a fire in his belly.
At that moment when he was overwhelmed with grief and loss, God gave him beauty for his ashes, changed his mourning into joy, and gave him what every human has ever yearned for: a personal relationship with God and a purpose for living.
This advice is not easy to give, because it is advice I reluctantly accept for myself. Nevertheless, I know it to be true. And here it is: money will fail, relationships will fail, governments will fail and will fall and all the tears and prayers in the world won’t move God from His Throne.
Prayer is our calling, intercession is our belief but, as with David when he cried out to God for the life of his child, when God closes a door, shuts down an opportunity or brings the “golden days” to a painful and abrupt end, look at it as an opportunity to build something greater with Someone that is Greater.
In the end, kings die, empires dissolve, “golden days” grow dim and loved ones disappoint and cause pain. But if that’s what it takes for us to have a fresh anointing and a fresh vision of God, count it all joy, brethren!
Bondservant to Jesus Christ, Married to Michele, Dad to Madelyn, Claudia, and Joseph and educator by trade, apologist by calling and saved by Grace. Antonio loves to read, write, and discuss all-things-apologetics. He has many passions in life including reaching, teaching, and keeping men for Jesus Christ. Waiting on God’s big reveal: Antonio knows He has something beautiful in mind.
