relationallychallenged

Tuesday August 30, 2011

There have been many times in my life where God has called me to do something or to have a relationship with someone, or to minister somewhere, and I have clearly heard the call and have gone.  The problem comes when He puts us in situations, or with people who are difficult to deal with.  I have found myself wondering how long I am going to have to endure this person or this situation before the Lord calls me to move on.  I was in the ministry when one of my beloved leaders decided he needed to move elsewhere and another person was put in his place and needless to say it was a difficult situation that I needed to adjust to and learn from.  But my question was, “How long Lord?”  One of my first jobs involved pumping gas, changing oil, and fixing truck tires in a gas station that I loved.  The problem centered around me making $.25 per hour.  The owner couldn’t pay me more so I worked the job because I loved the work, but I wondered “How long” I was going to be making such a small salary.  My dad stepped in and got me a $1.00 raise.  There have been times when God has put you with a difficult person such as an in-law and you wonder “How long Lord?” will you have to put up with that person.  Or it may be a job that you despise, but you have a job and you are making a living and you ask, “How long Lord?”

When Isaiah was called by God to go to a rebellious people, he asked the same question to the Lord, “Then I said, “For how long, Lord?”  And He answered: “Until the cities lie ruined and without inhabitant, until the houses are left deserted and the fields ruined and ravaged, until the Lord has sent everyone far away and the land is utterly forsaken.” (Isaiah 6:12 NIV)  When God answers the question of  “How long?” are we willing to be obedient to His answer.  I get the sense from Isaiah is that he saw the ministry that God had for him to do to be hard and burdensome and he was looking at his own limitations for the task at hand.  Whether it be a relationship or a business or a ministry, we don’t have the resources or patience to endure like He wants us.  We need to look to His resources for what He is calling us to do and nor our own resources.

On this journey, when we ask  “How long” we need to be willing to hear from Him and follow His steps in carrying out His plan.

Thursday August 25, 2011

Being available for the Lord to use you sets in motion His giving direction for our lives.  Seeing the Lord transforms our perspective of live and changes the direction that our desires would take us and directs us in the steps of the Lord.  Once we are clean of unconfessed sin and communicate our availability, we hear His voice as Isaiah did when God said, “Go and tell this people, “Be ever hearing, but never understanding; be ever seeing, but never perceiving.  Make the heart of this people calloused; make their ears dull and close their eyes.  Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed.” (Isaiah 6:9-10).

God is telling Isaiah that there will be times when we go and do His work that times of rejection will occur.  People who hear the message we have come to give will not listen or understand our words.  They will at times see but never perceive what the Lord wants them to do.  At times their hearts will be calloused and they will close their ears and eyes to the message that God gives us communicate.  It is not God’s intent that people would close their hearts to his message, but they would open their eyes and hear with their ears, and understand with their hearts and be healed of their dysfunction.  Isaiah needed to see and understand and be healed before he took the message to those who don’t see and don’t understand and aren’t healed.

On this journey, hearing’s God’s voice comes after we do our part in cleaning our lives of sin and being available to do whatever He asks us to do.

Tuesday August 23, 2011

Have you ever taken the time to stop and analyze what it feels like when we experience true forgiveness. There is a similar feeling when we come forth with the truth of what we did wrong and spill the beans. There is a weight that we have been carrying that has been lifted off our shoulders. There is a cleansing feeling. A light feeling. A relief feeling. Do you sense that feeling? If you have been reading this six part jlog, you get the sense that Isaiah was feeling that same feeling when the Lord said that his sins were forgiven. Our dealing with our sin and asking for forgiveness for our sins brings about a cleansing from within, and it opens the door to hearing what comes next in this whole process of seeing the Lord.

The word “then” again pushes forward as Isaiah is giving us a chronological roadmap to seeing the Lord. He says, “Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?” And I said, “Here am I. Send me!” (Isaiah 6:8 NIV). All of would like to hear from the Lord as to what His plans are for us. Most of us want a purpose and meaning in life. We only hear His voice when we have dealt with the sin in our lives and are a pure vessel for God to use. It’s only when we ask for cleansing from our sins that He begins to speak to us and give direction as to what He wants us to do. When we hear His voice as Isaiah did, He doesn’t demand us to do anything. He asks us if we are willing to go and do for Him. He first wants to know if we are willing to go and do for Him before He spells out what He wants us to do. He is asking for our availability and not our skill level or our knowledge or our capability. He is looking for our heart attitude to go and do whatever He wants us to do.

On this journey we all want to hear the voice of the Lord as to what He wants us to be and to do, but we need to be clean so that His voice can be heard.

Tuesday August 23, 2011

There have been many times in my life where some wrong action or wrong attitude has come to my attention. When I am sincerely seeking to follow the Lord, my response to those wrongs often involves negative feelings about myself. I have found myself occasionally physically hitting myself for the stupid choice I made. I said occasionally because I bruise much easier these days and I don’t like physical pain. I want to in those moments experience the cleansing power of Gods forgiveness so that I don’t hurt.

I get that feeling from Isaiah as he continues to give us a glimpse of his seeing the Lord. “Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. With it he touched my mouth and said, “See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.” (Isaiah 6:6-7 NIV). Then is a four letter word, but says so much in the contest of this passage. In the previous verse, Isaiah has admitted that he is a man of unclean lips and lives among a people of unclean lips. He was confessing his uncleanness when he came before a holy God. Then is a chronological word that points the reader to the next thing that happened. Isaiah needed to do his part before God would do his part. God needed to burn out the destructive part of Isaiah which He did by having the angel fly to him with a burning coal and touched the unclean lips of Isaiah. When his lips were touched by the burning coal, the guilt of Isaiah was taken sways and a his sins were cleansed. It’s the same principle that John spoke about regarding our need to confess our sins.

What stops us from humbling ourselves and confessing our sin so that we can experience the cleansing that Isaiah experienced? More often than not it is our pride in being unwilling to admit our uncleanness. Fr Isaiah he needed to see a holy God which caused him to compare himself to God which brought about the humbleness

On this journey, if we are ever going to see the Lord in our lives, we need to confess sinful actions and attitudes so that we can experience Gods cleansing and direction.

Saturday August 20, 2011

Several years ago I was taking a class in Washington D. C. And had an afternoon off to do some touring of the sites of our national capital. I had set up beforehand a tour of the white house and started in the tour when they stopped us and made us wait. At that moment President Clinton came around the corner dressed in his workout gear and came over to the group of about 30. He answered questions for about 3-4 minutes and I got to ask him a question ( I have no idea what the question was but I am sure it was a profound one, ha ha). He left and we continued on our tour. Some in the group were in awe of meeting the President. Some probably wanted his autograph. Others were unshaken by the meeting. There may have been one or two who didn’t know who he was. I’m sure others had some negative reactions to meeting him due to their political persuasion.

If you were to see the Lord face to face, what would your reaction be? Would you want His autograph. Would you ask Him do answer a prayer request for you? Would you want to see one His miracles performed? Would you even know who you were meeting? Well Isaiah had a face to face meeting with the Lord and his response was much different. “”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 NIV) Isaiah, at the exact moment he saw the Lord, saw his sin and and unclean life, and his response was one of humbleness and humiliation at meeting a holy God. All of his most positive traits were rubbish in comparison to the holy God he was meeting. When you look through the scriptures, humbleness and self depreciation is the first essential ingredient in order to come into the presence of the God almighty who is holy. It’s only when I see my weaknesses, my failures, my mistakes, my sin, that God begins to show Himself to us. “If we confess our sins, God is faithful and righteous to forgive us of our sins and cleanse us of all unrighteousness” (I John 1:9)

Not only did Isaiah recognize his sinfulness, but he also recognized the sinfulness of everyone around him. That includes you and me. A humble heart is the only kind of response that gets God’s attention. On this journey make sure that you are responding correctly as you walk with a Holy God.

Friday August 19, 2011

It’s interesting to see England and it’s royalty. It’s hard to relate to how they hold the Qween and her court in such high esteem because we don’t have such a structure in our country. Most of us have watched some portion of the latest marriage of the Kate Middleton to Prince William. There was much pomp and circumstance. I have to admit that I didn’t watch it, but I have reliable sources that it was beautiful in every respect. Here is the Queen of England and everyone was bowing down to her. There is a sense of awe and humbleness as the people of England saw royalty. They had a reverence for the throne and for those who represented the throne. For them it was a real honor to see their Queen.

What would it be like if you were to see the Creator of the universe face to face, the One who knows all and knows every part of who we are. Isaiah came face to face with the Lord and describes what he saw. “Above him were seraphim, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. And they were calling to one another: “Holy, holy, holy is the lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory.” (Isaiah 6:2-3 NIV). Angels were flying all around and were calling the Lord “Holy, holy, holy.” Think about a person who is holy for a minute. We’re talking without blemish. No sin. No imperfections. No faults. No flaws. No inadequacies. No weaknesses. No insecurities. Totally pure. When Isaiah saw the Lord, the first thing he heard from the angels was the holiness of the Lord. Think about what it would be like to sit there and be exposed to seeing the Lord with all the angels flying around and calling out in loud voices, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of Hosts, the Whole earth is full of his glory”.

I don’t know about you, but I am not feeling the best right now when I think of how I come before the throne of God. I don’t respond as I could when I think of His holiness. It’s as if I were talking to another person and not the God of the universe who is totally perfect. It causes me to rethink my approaching the throne of grace in a much different manner. I am humbled by the fact that in spite of my glibness at times in approaching the Lord, He does hear my prayers and wants to spend time with me today.

Today on this journey, it is helpful to see the Lord who is holy and wants to make us holy.