Beholding God's Presence in times of mourning.

Today I am drawn to meditate on Isaiah 6:1-8:

"In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him were seraphs, 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."
  At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook 
and the temple was filled with smoke.
  "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."
Then one of the seraphs 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."
  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!" 

What a dismal opening to a chapter! "In the year that King Uzziah died". Israel has just lost her king and an entire nation was grieving. The history of human kingship of Israel began in 1 Sam.8 where Israel demanded from then old Samuel  to "make for them a king to judge them like all the nations". God viewed this act of Israel as an entire nation "rejecting Him". After all they were supposed to follow the rule of Yahweh alone. In spite of this, God finally gave in and gave Israel what they wanted, a king to govern them.The king of Israel would soon represent security for the nation Israel. Death of a king means a nation is vulnerable to attack from neighboring kingdoms. 

In his grief, Isaiah obviously sought the Lord and was rewarded for verse 1 continued to say..."In the year King Uzziah died...I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of His robe filled the temple". What a grand vision!

Two real life stories come to mind with this passage. One took place 15 years ago when my father passed away and the other just recently when I lost a stillborn niece. 

STORY 1: In 1995, as I was preparing to go to my commissioning service to do missionary work in India, the phone rang. One of my sisters was on the phone informing me that my father who had been sick for a while was most likely going to be with the Lord on the same day. She told me however to go ahead be in the commissioning service and then come join the rest of the family after church. In church I struggled to sing praises and worship God. "How can I worship when I know my father" was on his deathbed?" I reasoned with God. As I wept struggling, God spoke to me.."Elsie, the death of your father does not diminish my power. I still am the GOD who is in control. You worship me because I AM the great I AM and I always deserve your worship regardless of. As soon as I heard this exhortation from the Lord, I raised my hand in worship and adoration of my LORD....tears overflowed from my eyes and suddenly, I found myself engulfed in His awesome presence...My father did die that day....but on the day of his death, I too like Isaiah saw the Lord. I saw that regardless of the circumstances I am in, HE reigns thus deserves my worship. 

STORY 2: Late last week, I lost a niece. My grief though was nothing compared to the grief of my sister and brother-in-law who in faith have waited for the gift of my niece for 6 long years. But God is faithful. Before my sister and brother-in-law got the ultrasound report confirming the death of their baby, my brother-in-law saw a vision of angelic hosts ushering their beautiful baby girl to the heavens into the presence of God. The vision has brought my sister and brother-in-law much comfort. Today God's presence is what sustains them both. It has helped them see beyond their grief and pain and see that God is in control and continues to deserves their devotion and worship.

Isaiah confessed, in the year King Uzziah died, he saw the Lord....What a joy! What a blessing! That even in our time of  loss we can experience  God's presence. Oh my heart sings to God in praise...Holy holy unto you my God...You are indeed glorious! 

My prayer: Lord may we always see you regardless of the situation we are in. May our eyes always be open to the reality that you reign forever and that our little troubles in this world does not in any way deny your omnipresence neither they diminish your omnipotence. Thank you Lord for giving us hope and a reason to praise and worship you every day of our life. Amen.

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