“In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of His robe filled the temple. Above it stood seraphim; each one had six wings: with two he covered his face, with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one cried to another and said: ‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of His glory!’ And the posts of the door were shaken by the voice of him who cried out, and the house was filled with smoke. So I said: ‘Woe is me, for I am undone! Because I am a man of unclean lips, for my eyes have seen the King, the lord of Hosts.’” — Isaiah 6:1-5 (NKJV)

Isaiah is for us all a tremendous example of a man who surrendered himself to God after being face to face with Him, after having seen His Glory. Isaiah was a man used by God to proclaim His word. He was already serving God as one of the “writing prophets” of the Old Testament, declaring the word of the Lord that he received through visions from God.

Like most Christians today, Isaiah was somewhat aware of Who God is but he had not experienced His Glory personally. All that changed dramatically when Isaiah had the vision in our scripture text. He is allowed to see God in all of His majesty and splendor, complete with the angelic beings and their voices and, equally important, Isaiah sees himself for who he really is. “Woe is me,” he cries, “I am undone … for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts.”

This realization of Who God is, and of who we are in comparison, brings us to the point of decision. Until we have our own personal encounter, it is really easy to get caught up in our own “goodness.” After all, I’m a Christian. But when we see Him in all of His Glory we also see our own insignificance and sinfulness, it is a truly humbling experienced. One that will forever change our view of God and of ourselves, it is just another part of “the Good News.”

Have you had a personal encounter (in our post-Pentecost world, we interact with The Holy Spirit, Who represents Jesus)? Have you asked Him?

The Rev. Bobby Thornhill is a retired pastor.