When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’ knees and said, “Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!” -Luke 5:8
My ears have heard of You, but now my eyes have seen You. Therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes. –Job 42: 5-6
“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. –Isaiah 6:5
Yesterday, I saw a portion of a film that really struck a chord with me. I do not know much about the movie, but from the portion I saw, I gathered that a man and his wife were having a baby. Something must have happened because their relationship was strained. The woman did not want anything to do with him, so he moved in with a friend and read loads of books about what to expect in the delivery room and after the baby is born. When the woman went into labour, the parents decided to put their differences apart and make things work for the sake of the little life that was about to come into the world. Although the man had read all about labour and had prepared himself for it, when he saw the baby coming out, he literally froze, then he began to shake, then he began to cry, and then he fell to his knees cupped his face in his hands and continuously sobbed. Then he said, “Nothing in this world could have prepared me for his moment, I just don’t know what to do.”
As I read about Peter, Job, and Isaiah’s reaction to being in the presence of the Lord, they must have felt a bit like the man from the movie. Job spent almost forty chapters talking about what he was going to say to God if He just showed up, but when He did, everything Job thought he would do or say went out the window, and in awe, he realized his own depravity and repented for the presumptuous words he had previously spoken about Him. Isaiah had a similar experience, and so did Peter.
From the different examples throughout Scripture, it is evident that encounters with God usually brought about a sense of emptiness and unworthiness in people. Some were lead to repentance, some were moved to leave everything and follow Christ, while others became bold and willing to be used by God. His presence was transforming, it was inspiring, it was humbling, and it was powerful!
Have you ever personally encountered God’s presence? If you have not, I urge you to pray for it. Reading scripture is important and highly recommended, but it is nothing compared to actually experiencing God presence as we can see from the three excerpts above. Just like a person can understand every detail of reproduction, genetics and anatomy and still be completely amazed by the mystery of childbirth, you can know all the facts about Christ, but still be left completely undone by the mystery of His presence.
Like Moses did in Exodus 33:12-22, pray that the Lord would show you His glory and let you experience His presence. What will it be like? I don’t know, but I leave you with the words of someone that thought about that very question
“I can only imagine what my eyes will see when your face is before me; I can only imagine…Surrounded by Your glory, what will my heart feel? Will I dance for you Jesus? Or in awe of you be still? Will I stand in your presence? Or to my knees will I fall? Will I sing hallelujah? Will I be able to speak at all? I can only imagine! I can only imagine!” -Bart Millard of MercyMe
Grace and peace be with you.
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I CAN ONLY IMAGINE