Exposed in His presence

What do you do when you're in the presence of a holy God? Naturally, His holiness highlights our unholiness, and our first instinct is to hide from His presence. His holiness forces us to come to terms with our unholiness, and it often feels like we are unworthy of Him or of being in His presence. However, He doesn't view us as people who should be rejected. If anything, He views us as His perfect creations, a chosen generation, and His own special people (1 Peter 2:9).

We are called to be holy just as He is holy (Leviticus 19:2). When you're in the presence of a holy God and all your unholiness is exposed, you should take that as an invitation to be holy as He is holy. His presence is not an invitation to condemnation, it's an invitation to be like Him. An invitation to walk with Him and spend time with Him until you are like Him.

In the book of Isaiah 6, when Isaiah saw the Lord seated on His throne, he recognized that he was a man of unclean lips who dwelt in the midst of people with unclean lips. When his eyes saw the Lord of Hosts and when he beheld His glory, his uncleanness became very apparent. God's light has a way of helping us clearly see what is unclean and unholy. The seraphim took a coal and touched Isaiah's lips with it and said that his iniquity was taken away and his sin was purged.

One key observation is that Isaiah didn't need to be told about his lips' uncleanness; no one had to convince him. The moment he stood before a holy God, it was easy to see the uncleanness, and he said it himself. Sometimes we avoid His presence because we are aware of our own uncleanness. We know that once we are in His presence, our uncleanness is undeniable. And maybe, we don't want to be exposed to our uncleanness because we aren't willing to change at that point in time. As the saying goes, ignorance is bliss. But His presence forces us out of ignorance and shows us the reality of ourselves. In His presence, it is impossible to hide.

When Isaiah saw the uncleanness of his lips, he didn't run from God or use that as a reason to depart from His presence. When he acknowledged his uncleanness, his iniquity was purged and his sin was taken away, and that's exactly how we should approach the Lord. He gives us the opportunity to acknowledge our uncleanness on a daily basis, not because He wants to punish us or prove how holy He is, but because He loves us and He wants us to be holy as He is holy. The first step to that is self-awareness. If a person cannot see that they need help, then they cannot look for it, nor will they accept it.

At the end of the day, it comes down to our heart posture. When you see the uncleanness, do you run and hide, or do you choose to acknowledge it and let Him take away your iniquity and purge your sin?

2 Timothy 2:20–21 (NKJV) 

20 But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay, some for honor and some for dishonor. 21 Therefore if anyone cleanses himself from the latter, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified and useful for the Master, prepared for every good work.

So choose for yourself, from this point going forward. What kind of vessel do you want to be? Do you want to be a vessel of dishonor, or do you want to be a vessel of honor?

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