Thursday August 18, 2011

Over the years I have heard many a people at various times say that the Lord spoke to them. I haven’t stopped to ask them if they heard an audible voice or the Lord spoke to them through someone else, but it often stops me in my tracks when someone says that the Lord spoke to them. It’s difficult to contradict what someone is saying if the Lord spoke to them. Sometimes I have heard someone say this, but what they have seemingly heard from the Lord is contrary to what the bible says which creates a dilemma. I do know that the Lord is able to speak to us in different ways and even used a donkey to speak to his master who was beating him. So anything is possible when it comes to God wanting to get our attention. With Moses He used a burning bush to get Moses attention. What stops us from hearing what Gods wants us to hear involves distractions. For Moses it was his profession of herding sheep. For Balaam and his donkey, it was his desire to get stuff that stopped him from the Lord.

In the passage I read this morning, Isaiah had an encounter with the Lord. In fact not only did He speak to Isaiah, but He showed Himself to Isaiah. But before Isaiah could see the Lord, something/someone had to be removed.

“In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord, high and exalted, seated on a throne; and the train of his robe filled the temple.” (Isaiah 6:1 NIV). King Uzziah was a wonderful king most of his life and Isaiah sat under his leadership. Isaiah depended upon Uzziah and his leadership to lead the Israelite nation and it was only when Uzziah died that Isaiah saw the Lord. As we are growing up we sometimes depend upon a parent or a mentor or a close friend to lead the way and we gladly follow in their steps. In order to truly see the Lord and hear what He wants us to do, He has to remove the obstacles (it may be a person or it may be things that we depend upon for our security) in our lives that block us from seeing the Lord and hearing His voice. For Isaiah, Uzziah needed to die in order for him to see the Lord.

On this journey, it is important to identify the Uzziahs of our lives that block us from seeing and hearing what the Lord wants us to do and to be. We need to allow the Uzziahs to die so that we can in fact see the Lord.