And so we reach the end of the story ...
Then Job replied to the LORD :
I know that you can do all things;
no plan of yours can be thwarted.
You asked, 'Who is this that obscures my counsel without knowledge?'
Surely I spoke of things I did not understand,
things too wonderful for me to know.
You said, 'Listen now, and I will speak;
I will question you,
and you shall answer me.'
My ears had heard of you
but now my eyes have seen you.
Therefore I despise myself
and repent in dust and ashes.
When confronted with God, what is there to say?
God is holy. But what does Holy mean?
One simple answer I heard was that holy is all that makes God God and not us!
Though we are made in the image of God, that image is now marred. That is why we look at the world with a sense of unease and a sense that things are not the way they should be. Thus, in many ways God is so completely different than us. He is so "other" (holy) compared to us.
When Isaiah met God, he said, "Woe to me! I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty."
Are we stuck in this place of ruin?
Yes ... unless ... we recognize our state and allow God to restore!
For Isaiah, it came out this way: Then one of the seraphs flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. With it he touched my mouth and said, "See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for."
Lord, have mercy. On too many occasions I have walked in the opposite direction you want. All too often my thoughts are of self and not You and others. Yet, though you are holy and totally other than me, you have made a path for restoration. Thank you for such a gift. Help me to live in that. Amen
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