Learning To Stand In Awe (Isaiah 29)
12:30 PM
Being
a physical therapist, I have studied anatomy and physiology and it never ceases
to amaze me how masterfully and wonderfully the human body functions. Just the
other day, I purchased a new app that showed the electrical pathways conducted
through the heart with colorful interactive graphics. I wanted to show it to
others and my daughter commented that I was mesmerized with the human heart.
And she was right,but more than being in awe of the human heart, I was in awe
of the One who fashioned it.
Sadly,
I think that we aren’t in awe of God enough even though evidence of His wonder
and magnificence is all around us and proclaimed to us throughout His
Word. In fact, even though we may be part of a group of
“believers”, we may find that if God is not given His proper place of reverence
and significance, spiritual stagnation and atrophy can occur.
This
is the situation we read about in the first 1/2 of Isaiah 29. Jerusalem was
full of “religious people” but they were not really seeking a relationship with
God. They were caught up in ceremony, religious appearances and the positions
of man. They weren’t really paying attention to God. The result was that they
lost spiritual connection. “For the Lord has poured out upon you a spirit of
deep sleep, and has closed your eyes (the prophets), and covered your heads
(the seers). And the vision of all this has become to you like the words of a
book that is sealed. When men give it to one who can read, saying, "Read
this," he says, "I cannot, for it is sealed." And when they give
the book to one who cannot read, saying, "Read this," he says,
"I cannot read."” (10-12)
God
knew their hearts and He knew their motives: “... this people draw near with
their mouth and honor me with their lips, while their hearts are far from me,
and their fear of me is a commandment taught by men,” (13)
God
didn’t want forced actions. God wanted a heart connection. God wanted to be
seen and known.
But
His people didn’t know how to truly “see “ God. They had forgotten that He was
the Creator and they were His creation. “You turn things upside
down! Shall the potter be regarded as the clay, that the thing made should say
of its maker, "He did not make me"; or the thing formed say of him
who formed it, "He has no understanding"?” (16)
God
is waiting for Israel to remember “Who” He is and learn to see Him again with
fresh eyes. An important part of that transformation is that the people will
reconnect with God, allowing Him to transform them from the inside and they
will stand in awe of all that He is.
“Therefore
thus says the Lord, who redeemed Abraham, concerning the house of Jacob:
"Jacob shall no more be ashamed, no more shall his face grow pale. For
when he sees his children, the work of my hands, in his midst, they will
sanctify my name; they will sanctify the Holy One of Jacob and will stand in
awe of the God of Israel. And those who go astray in spirit will come to
understanding, and those who murmur will accept instruction."” (22-24)
God
wants to transform us too but we have to know how to seek Him and truly see the
wonder of Him. We have to know how to learn from Him and yield our hearts to
Him.
Not
until we have become humble and teachable, standing in awe of God's holiness
and sovereignty...acknowledging our own littleness, distrusting our own
thoughts, and willing to have our minds turned upside down, can divine wisdom
become ours. (J.I. Packer)
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