We could see his floundering lips dancing like distant ships in the evening sun. Life had marked and moved him distinctively as he uttered unashamedly, “God is a mystery to man, and He has wonders to perform.”
Somewhere beyond the horizons of his experience, he had been filled by the fullness of God’s presence—a grandeur greater than human expectation and explanation.
What happens when we, too, are filled with the fullness of God’s presence?
I. An Invocation of Discernment Comes with the Fullness of God’s Presence (
In the fullness of God’s presence, the doors of our imperfections pivot and swing forcefully and provocatively from the staid complacency of our sedentary lives. Similar to the prophet Isaiah, we are seized by the calling and discernment of God’s voice. The voice of God beckons us all. We may hear Him in the silence of whispering trees announcing our very own presence. We may hear Him in the stealth of sweltering dreams. We may hear Him in the feeble shout of withering heights of humanity. Yet, in the hearing of God’s voice do we embrace our stammering tongues, fleece our filthy garments, and steal away to our sheltered affinities?
There may be someone who has said, “I have heard His calling and His thunderous melodies; but who am I, and what shall I do in the immediacy of His presence?” Are we so weak that God is not able to remove our frailties? While still an infant, Moses’ mother hid him among bush just to prove God’s commands were more worthy and bountiful than a king’s demands.
Isaiah’s vision reminds us that we are to be receptive to the coming of God even if we are not really ready for the fullness of His presence. When God comes, He shall see us as we truly have been and as we truly shall become even as He shakes us from the “foundations of our mortal thresholds.”
II. A Revocation of Judgment Comes with the Fullness of God’s Presence (
He found his favorite seat in the church and momentarily looked upon the hallowed walls of the saints who had gone by and beyond the judgment of earthly time. He had seen his children come and go. In their going and coming he had seen their disappearing. Now, he hears the winged creatures stirring his solitude and wonders even more.
When the burdens of life toil upon our souls, where shall we go? To whom shall we speak when our questions are not answered? There are times when we must go to God, for His counsel sits above the wisdom of this world. If our lives are unclean, He is waiting. If our children do not know Him, He is waiting. If our churches have not known Him, He is waiting. If the world does not know Him, He is waiting.
When we see God, we never will be the same. When we see Him as we should become, then we shall know Him in the fullness of His presence.
The dying thief rejoiced to see that fountain in his day, and there may I, though as vile as he, Wash all my sins away. Wash all my sins away. Wash all my sins away. And there may I, though as vile as he, Wash all my sins away.
III. An Invitation of Commitment Comes with the Fullness of God’s Presence (
He asks the question: “Lord, what shall I do? I have confessed with my mouth that Jesus is Lord, and I believe in my heart that God raised Him from the dead. I have been assigned to the discovery of gifts ministry. I have signed my name on Your roll. I have told the pastor that I am ready to work in the vineyard. I faithfully have attended membership class. Lord, I still don’t know what to do.”
Then God speaks to him as He speaks to us: “Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?” Here I am, Lord. Send me, Lord! Send me!