You might be familiar with the Bible story of the suffering of Job. But do you know what crucial factor changed his life and brought him double what he had lost? After enduring 41 chapters of his trial Job uttered a profound statement; “I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees You” (Job 42:5). The big question is—what did He see?
Job had listened to 37 chapters of accusations, human reasoning and counsel from his friends. Then God stepped in. God posed a series of challenge questions way beyond the scope of Job’s natural reasoning. It brought Job to the place of realizing he knew very little about anything.
God brought Job to see a dramatized and detailed picture of the power of God. His whole perspective and concept of God was reshaped, reframed and enlarged. He had heard about God; but through the process of engagement with God he encountered God. He was brought front and center before God so he could see more clearly God’s spiritual reality. He went from being counseled about God by those presuming to know God to seeing the things of God and experiencing God.
That’s how God brings us to the place of seeing how much we don’t know! He brings us to humility. He brings us to a place beyond self so we will see Him, His immensity and His reality—His creative ability, His knowledge and His power as being beyond our human reasoning, wildest imaginations and abilities. He brings us to wow moments.
Truly, God knows us more than we think. One thing the Bible weaves throughout its pages is how God observes mankind as being right in his own eyes. That’s our human nature. We think we have it all figured out. So God has to bring us to the place where we realize we know very little!
What have you heard? What have you seen—more importantly—who have you seen? It is true: seeing is believing. God seeks to bring us to the place where He can reveal greater dimensions of His nature to us so we will see Him, know Him and experience His amazing grace, power and love in ways beyond our human reasoning.
The way, however, brings trials. It’s how we see God greater than the pressures and pains of life. It’s how we see God greater than all the forces of the world. It’s how God transforms us from seeing ourselves as victims to becoming victors—in and through His awesome strength.
What do you see?
When God brought Abraham out of his homeland to a new place He asked him to look up to the stars. He then Gave Abraham a promise. He was giving him a vision for his future.
After God had brought the children of Israel through the wilderness to the promised land and placed them before the high and thick intimidating fortress walls of Jericho. He purposed to challenge Joshua’s vision. He said, “See! I have given Jericho into your hand” (Joshua 6:2). What do you suppose Joshua thought? Really? How in your wildest imagination would that happen?
God had prepared Joshua and the people to perceive His nature. Through their 40 years of trials and wanderings God illustrated in many ways and through many situations His love, His power and His provision. He was now challenging Joshua and all the people to apply their faith and trust His word. He indeed performed His word.
About 1,500 years later When Jesus showed up on the scene He made a profound statement (amongst many); “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God” (Matthew 5:8). Note, He didn’t say perfect, but pure—or in reality—cleansed. God wants to cleanse and refresh you from the inside-out so you can see and know Him—personally and intimately—that you be whole and your life be more full. It takes a process.
Seeing the dynamics of God’s process will help you see reality in a new light
Over the course of his years of engagement with God the prophet Isaiah discovered and recorded key concepts that reveal various aspects of the human condition and God’s plan of redemption and restoration. While the subject of his engagement with God largely related to the nation of Israel, God made it apparent that His greater purpose related to His creation at large—including all the nations of the world. Our purpose, therefore, is to piece together some of these concepts to reveal the issues on God’s heart that may strengthen your spiritual vision that you may be encouraged and refreshed, and experience God’s amazing grace and redemption in new and revitalizing ways.
In the very first chapter of his book God related His concern for His people. He compared His people to the ox and mule. While such creatures at least know the hand that feeds and cares for them, His people were blinded to His divine love, oversight, guidance and care. After setting the stage to present His cause and prepare His case, God began to reveal the issues behind Israel’s problems so that He may present His solutions—His plan of redemption.
In Isaiah 28:15 we see Isaiah lowering the boom on Israel with the first of a progressive set of blows aimed at getting their attention and opening their eyes. “For we have made lies (kazab) our refuge, and under falsehood (sheker) we have hidden ourselves.” Looking at the more broad meaning of the Hebrew words portrays a stunning message. Kazab means deceit, falsehood, idolatry; and sheker means falsehood, vain thing, sham. Wow! The people had immersed themselves—even finding security and safety—in deceit, falsehood and idolatry. Such things—illusions crafted in deceit and falsehoods—became norms. Their confidence was based on counterfeit shadows and false appearances—things not as they were purported or represented to be.
That’s what happens when we allow ourselves to be swayed by the influences and dictates of the world rather than the Word—God’s Word—the source of light and truth. It’s what happens when we build the foundation of our life on presumption and false premises and pretenses. We are so seduced by falsehood that we become so familiar with falsehood. We can’t see the difference between what is really true and right and what is an illusion or falsehood—a sham.
Because this is such a crucial issue it was the very issue the apostle Paul addressed in the opening of his book to the Romans. He carried forward the reality Isaiah brought to the light in detailing what happened when the people “exchanged the truth of God for the lie.” They experienced dire consequences. “Their foolish hearts were darkened…and professing to be wise, they became fools” (Romans 1:21-25). In other words, they trivialized God’s truths to the point where they lost their sense of values, discernment, direction and judgment. Living in a state of presumption, always thinking they were being right in their own eyes, their purposes were frustrated and they lived in frustration and confusion.
Do we not see this today? A discerning person would call this living in denial. You deny God’s truth; and in reality deny yourself of God’s grace, protection, love and blessings. It takes God’s light piercing through the darkness of the human soul. And it takes a soft, pliable and willing to be corrected heart to see.
That’s why Father God calls out to His children, “How long, O you sons of men, will you turn my glory to shame? How long will you love worthlessness and seek falsehood?” (Psalm 4:2) Even the wisest and richest man in the world during his time, King Solomon, had to be brought to the place where he cried out to God, “Remove falsehood and lies far from me; give me neither poverty nor riches…” (Proverbs 30:8).
Seeing beyond to possess the realities of the Kingdom of God
The good news is, God promises to give you opportunities to see beyond shadows of falsehood and see His realities. Isaiah continued to encourage the people with another statement: “In that day the deaf shall hear the words of the book, and the eyes of the blind shall see out of obscurity and out of darkness” (Isaiah 29:18). Again, looking at the more broad meaning of the Hebrew word translated as darkness, choshek, sheds more light. It conveys the wider scope of being in a state of misery, destruction, ignorance and sorrow. So what is God saying? In that day—the day the Holy Spirit pierces through the darkness of the soul, revealing new dimensions of God’s grace and truth—your eyes, ears and heart will hear, see and comprehend greater measures of God’s reality, bringing peace and hope—even joy!
When and how does it happen? Isaiah continues: “In returning and rest you shall be saved; in quietness and confidence shall be your strength” (Isaiah 30:15). In other words, when it becomes so important and critical enough that you take the time to settle down from busyness and come to a place of being still and patient before God, trusting totally in God and finding your strength in His strength. Then His solutions will open up to you.
Isaiah continued further to shed even more light: “Wisdom and knowledge will be the stability of your times, and the strength of salvation; the fear of the LORD is His treasure” (Isaiah 33:6). Here you have it. The gift of God’s wisdom, knowledge and strength—far greater than the world can offer—will be yours! It will lighten your burden and loosen your cords of bondage. It will bring you to a place of firm footing; balance, peace—confidence in God—whose grace is more than sufficient. Notice, though, one caveat: the key is truly resting in the fear of the Lord.
What really is the fear of the Lord? Most associate the concept of the fear of the Lord with viewing God in awe or reverence. To fully appreciate the concept of the fear of the Lord, however, it is helpful to understand the connection between the Hebrew words for fear (yirah) and vision (ra’ah). The Hebrew word, ra’ah, actually means see or behold. So it relates to how we see, or our perspective of things. Now, connect this with the Hebrew word, yirah, which adds a “y” to essentially the same word. The “y” or yud, the smallest letter in Hebrew, represents God’s omnipresence and hand. The concept of the fear of the Lord, therefore, in its fullest sense, is to see or behold the omnipresence and hand of God in something and see from God’s perspective!
It was from this perspective that the apostle Paul opened the book of Romans, declaring, “For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen” (Romans 1:20). God designed mankind to see and perceive His handiwork in everything!
David and Solomon learned that this—the fear of the Lord—is the key to walking in God’s favor. Solomon opened the book of Proverbs revealing that, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge” (Proverbs 1:7).
The fear of the Lord, therefore, brings us to a conscious awareness of God’s very real-time presence. The fear of the Lord brings you beyond surface knowledge or book knowledge, beyond superstition or presumptuous belief. It is a knowing that God is sovereign; all-seeing, all-knowing, all-powerful and watching you! He knows your thoughts, your meditations, your desires and your prayers.
The fear of the Lord will pierce through your humanity and being to bring you to a strong sense of transparency—being transparent before God. It will lead you to being honest with God and honest with yourself; and real before people. It will cause you to rightly discern and distinguish between what is right in your own eyes—even the world’s eyes—and right before God. It will pierce through your areas of darkness, revealing your greatest fears, blind ambitions and hidden agendas. How? It will cause you to value what God values: virtues like integrity, humility, wisdom, love, sacrifice, faithfulness, diligence and accountability. It will truly be effective in producing what God refers to as the fruit of the Spirit: “love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control” (Galatians 5:22-24).
I’ve always found it interesting that this is what God says, against such there is no law; meaning with the spirit of God’s law truly engraved on and immersed within your heart, you walk blameless before God and others, bringing no cause for judgment against you. Yes, Satan—the author of falsehood and master of deception and evil—will work as accuser within others to entrap, judge and condemn you, but God will look towards you with a heart that finds no fault against you. Truly, the fear of the Lord will impart virtues within you that will change your whole vision and perspective, and as a result, your disposition before God and attitudes before others. Yes, it will manifest a greater dimension of grace of which the world knows very little.
Truly, the fear of the Lord is the overarching issue God desires we come to know intimately. God wants to bring us beyond our earthly and carnal comprehension—to real transformation. God and His Spirit is real, alive and ever present! That’s why it takes trusting faith to see; not head knowledge, fear, superstition or believing in fables—but truth.
The reality and conviction of truth is what really sets you free. It is the most liberating antidote you will find! It enlightens, brings clarity, strengthens and fosters wisdom and progressively growing trusting faith in the Lord.
Isaiah didn’t stop here in bringing to greater reality these truths. His spirit sensed the reality of the coming of Messiah; the One of whom God had spoken, and Isaiah had written of in Isaiah 7:14—Immanuel, translated as “God with us.” He saw into the future and heard the messenger John, “the voice of one crying in the wilderness,” proclaiming a message that would change the course of history: “Prepare the way of the Lord…” (Isaiah 40:3). Isaiah continued to speak of the One who would “open blind eyes” and “bring out those who sit in darkness from the prison house” (Isaiah 42:7). No, he wasn’t just speaking of criminals in jails, but people like you and me living in the bondage of the blinding darkness of falsehood, fear, frustration and futility; all things connected with sin.
When Messiah Jesus showed up on the scene at the time the prophet John was immersing people in the water to cleanse their hearts and encourage them to return to God’s ways, He posed a specific challenge question three times. “What do you see,” He asked? He then began to speak of the reality of the kingdom of God; and how it would be emerging in new, powerful and tangible ways—through Him and God’s Holy Spirit—bringing God’s grace, rest, freedom, truths and realities to earth as it is in heaven.
Messiah Jesus brought Isaiah’s prophecies to a very present and tangible reality. I can only imagine how scales fell off blinded eyes, setting souls free, the day He read in the synagogue from Isaiah 61 (recorded in Luke 4:18):
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me,
Because He has anointed Me
To preach the gospel to the poor;
He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted,
To proclaim liberty to the captives
And recovery of sight to the blind,
To set at liberty those who are oppressed;
To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.”
To go beyond that, He then said, “Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.” Wow! Talk about “in that day” becoming a reality! That day came for many and set blinded prisoners free—of every sort of bondage of the soul and despair, bringing hope.
What do these words do for you? Can you sense the reality and freedom of God’s presence—His grace and truth—in a real and tangible way? Can you sense His love touching your heart? Can you sense the darkness lifting, and new glimpses of light piercing through to bring you hope? Simply call upon His name and you will experience the atmosphere changing. Keep calling, seeking and engaging with Him through His Word; and His Holy Spirit will emerge within you with progressive refreshing and strength, bringing more light and insights into things that will change your life!