There is story of a woman who was trying to find God. She often dreamt that she was standing in front of a thick, plate-glass window, and she seemed to see God on the other side. Trying to attract His attention she would hammer on the window with her fists, but without success. Growing more and more desperate she soon found herself shrieking at him at the top of her voice. Finally, a quiet, calm voice at her side said, "Why are you making so much noise? There is nothing between us." (Dr. Leslie Weatherhead)
6 Seek the LORD while he may be found; call on him while he is near.
7 Let the wicked forsake his way and the evil man his thoughts. Let him turn to the LORD, and he will have mercy on him, and to our God, for he will freely pardon.
8 "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the LORD.
9 "As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.
10 As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater,
11 so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it. (NIV) Let’s take a closer look.
"Seek ye the Lord while he may be found. . ." Last week I said that God knows our needs already before we ask. Yes he does, but that does not mean that we should not ask, or seek him. We have all received invitations to events that needed an RSVP a respondez si’l vous plait, or please respond. This is God’s RSVP. Please respond to me. Seek me while I may be found. This is God’s invitation to his nearness; to salvation. How often haven’t we lost the invitaion, and forgotten to send back our answer. Yet he invites us again and again. But...notice that it says, “While he may be found?” Does that mean that there will be a point in time when he will no longer be available? Does that not add a sense of urgency to the invitation? Seek him while he may be found.
Now when we get an invitation to an event, sometimes there is the stipulation to come as you are, which of course means that dress is casual. This is part of God’s invitation too. Let me explain. Early one morning a fire broke out in an apartment building. The alarm was sounded but before the fire engines could get to the scene, flames were already leaping high into the air. Suddenly a young man appeared at an upper window in his pajamas. Firemen quickly placed a ladder against the burning building, but the man refused to come down, shouting back that he had to get dressed first. The firemen pleaded, "Come as you are! Come as you are!" but to no avail. From below they tried to ascend the stairs, but were turned back as the wind fanned the flames into a fury. When a rescuer tried to enter through a window, the heat and smoke forced him away. Suddenly the stairs gave way and the roof fell in. The man had waited too long and was buried beneath the ruins. Many reject God's provision of salvation and safety in Christ because they want to get dressed up in the clothes of self- righteousness or religion. Their delay could cost them their souls. Have you accepted God’s invitation? "Seek ye the Lord while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near." Come now. Come as you are.
In order for us to put Isaiah invitation in to perspective we need to look at it historical context. When Isaiah wrote these words his people were in exile in Babylonia. They had been uprooted from their homes and moved into an unfamiliar area. Sound familiar? This occurred in the latter half of the eight century BC, but it sounds as if it could be something we hear on the news today. Bombs are being dropped on Yugoslavia for apparently much the same reason these days; to stop the removal of a certain people from a certain area. The people of Judah in Isaiah’s time were in a hopeless situation, but the prophet came to them with words of hope. God would set his people free. "Seek the Lord while he may be found." "Turn to the Lord and pray to him, now that he is near." (GNB)
Here we see a group of people in a desperate situation, and yet Isaiah assures them that God is near. But hold on a minute. Should we not ask the question of why? Why are these people in dire straits? For years Isaiah had warned them that if they did not turn to the Lord, and abandon their wicked ways, this would happen. God would take away their land. But they had refused to listen. They wanted to live their lives in ways that were not pleasing to God, and so it did happen. Now I want you to know that I in no way want to draw a comparison here with the situation in Kosovo, other than the similar circumstances.
Isaiah prefaces his proposition to seek the Lord with reasons why one should seek him. The first verse of the chapter is an invitation. Come, everyone who is thirsty...here is water! Here is grain, wine and milk. It’s all free! What is free? A better life. Life with God. Salvation. Salvation is something money cannot buy. Why spend money on something that doesn’t satisfy. Why try to acquire your salvation yourself. You can’t do it. It won’t measure up. "Come to me and you will have life!" What a marvellous invitation. How is it that salvation is free? It is free through the atoning work of Jesus Christ.
You see we have a God who is able to offer us all of this, and we may be confident that he will keep his promise. This isn’t an advertisement for God, it is a description of his character. You might want to ask yourself whether you have a big God or a little God? A little girl was awed by her Sunday School lesson which spoke of God's limitless power and mercy. When she arrived home she asked, "Daddy, how big is God." Her father thought for a moment and answered, "Well, let me put it this way. He is always just a little bigger than you need.
"Seek the Lord while he is near." But there is a condition that we should not overlook. Listen. "Let the wicked leave their way of life and change their way of thinking. Let them turn to the Lord our God: he is merciful and quick to forgive." It all boils down to repentance. Repentance. That sounds like such a "religious" word doesn’t it? And yet that is exactly what has to happen. It is the only human act that is necessary for salvation; the only one. Notice how quickly Isaiah follows his warning with the promise of forgiveness. "He is merciful and quick to forgive!" As a matter of fact, if the truth were to be known, we come seeking God, but, in searching for God, we discover that God has been searching for us. Isn’t that clearly shown in the New Testament. The shepherd is out on a hillside searching for the lost sheep. It is not we who stand at God's door and humbly knock. It is God who takes the initiative. It is He who knocks at our door. The main purpose of worship is not that we may find God, but that we might be quiet enough and still enough so that we can hear the soft knocking of God upon the doors of our heart.
We sometimes just underestimate the power of God, and his willingness to help us, to give us all we need. We sometimes lack the faith that is needed to believe. We are sometimes like the woman I spoke about at the out set, thinking that there must be something between us and God, while there really isn’t. The story is told of a man who lived in a remote valley in Wales. He went to a great deal of trouble to have electrical power installed in his home. But the power company soon noticed he didn't use very much electricity. In fact, his usage was minuscule. They sent a meter reader out to check on the matter. The reader came to the door and said, "We've looked at the amount. Don't you use electricity?" "Oh yes" he said. "We turn it on every night to see how to light our lamps and then we switch it off again." That sounds like the way many Christians apply the power of God in their lives. O we readily admit that God is out there, or maybe even near to us, but we cannot quite accept the fact that God can be taken at his word fully, and completely.
Perhaps we should all be more like the little girl who was convinced of God’s power and what it means to us. She was saying her bedtime prayer. "Dear God, I want you to take care of mommy, take care of daddy, take care of my sister and my brother. And please, God, take care of yourself, because if you don't we're all sunk."
How often God comes to us, but we do not recognize him or receive him. But he still comes to those who are seeking, and those who are sensitive.
God is very near to us. Of course we see God most clearly in the person of Jesus Christ. Isaiah the prophet knew that God was very near to him, but he had only the vaguest outline of the character of God. He didn't have the model of Christ. He could not see God hold little children in his arms, or forgive the woman of the streets as she washed his feet with her tears, or heal the blind man on the road to Jericho. For all his exalted wisdom as a prophet of God, Isaiah could not see God as clearly as you and I can.
"Seek the Lord while he may be found. . ." God is very near to us. That is true now, and it shall be true forevermore. We do not have to have a "pie in the sky" kind of faith, but a faith that is in a God whose thoughts are as high as the heavens are above the earth, a mighty, powerful, loving God. God is very near to us. We do not have to go far to find Him, for He is already coming to find us. We see Him most clearly in the person of Jesus Christ, and do you know what? The world sees Him most clearly in us. The woman who slammed her fists on the plate glass thought God was on the other side, but in reality he was standing right beside her, on her side of the glass. God is always accessible, and never far away. The Christian faith is based on the word that God speaks, and we may be rest assured that "It will not fail to do what (he) plans for it" Let us do as Isaiah tells us to: "Seek ye the Lord while he may be found. Call upon him while he is near." Are you ready to trust him today?
