In His Presence

I have heard it said by more than one person, and maybe I have said it myself a time or two, "When I get to heaven there are a few things I want to ask God...."  Well, maybe so.  But, not likely.  At that point questions will surely disappear in the valley of the shadow of death and be no more.  The reasoning for such a conclusion comes after thinking a bit about the call moment of Isaiah which is found in the sixth chapter of that Old Testament book.  The moment described seems to be about as close to being in heaven in the presence of God as any Word we might read in the Scripture.

 

When the glory broke in upon Isaiah's little world over which he felt in control, we hear him saying, "Woe is me!  I am lost, for I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips; yet my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!"  It would have been a great moment for the young priest in the Temple to say, "Lord, glad you dropped by, there are some things I have been wanting to ask You."  But, instead Isaiah responded more like Peter, James, and John on the Mt. of Transfiguration.  In their moment of standing midst the holy, all they wanted to do was bury their face in the dirt. 

 

And as we think about our own experiences of being overcome by the transcendent, majestic, all powerful presence of the Almighty, we are more likely to remember dropping to our knees than standing and pulling out our notepad with all its questions.  There is something about being in the presence of God which causes the doubts and questions to fall away into the realm of the unimportant.  When God is present, it is not our mind which takes the lead, but our soul.  And, our soul can only respond in praise and awe as does the rest of creation.