Here Am I

What was Jonah thinking when he tried to run from the Lord? Didn't he realize that the Lord was just as present in Nineveh as he was in Tarshish? Why do we try to hide from God by putting on a religious mask to hide our struggles and imperfections? Have we forgotten that the Lord is just as present in the office, the movie theatre, and the bedroom as he is in the church sanctuary?

We can't escape being authentic with God, but it helps when we make it a conscious choice. C. S. Lewis wrote that when we pray, we should begin by addressing God with an attitude that says, "May it be the real I who speaks. May it be the real Thou that I speak to."

The Real "Thou"

In prayer we address God as he really is, not as we wish him to be. He's not a figment of our imagination. Nor is he a cosmic kill-joy, a senile and over-indulgent great-grandfather in the sky, or a fickle tyrant who delights in pulling our strings. He's the source of truth, the creator of the universe, the ultimate standard of right and wrong, the wise and mighty judge to whom we're all accountable. And he's our loving Father, the giver of every good and perfect gift.

The prophet Isaiah received a powerful vision of the Lord in all his stunning reality. The encounter described in Isaiah 6:1-4 underscores God's majesty ("high and exalted"); God's authority ("seated on a throne"); God's holiness (angelic creatures cried out, "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty"); and God's omnipresence ("the whole earth is full of his glory").

Confronted with the reality of God, Isaiah had to face the reality of his own weakness and frailty. He cried out, "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" (v. 5).

Seeing God as he really is allows us to see ourselves as we really are. And Isaiah didn't like what he saw about himself. He was unworthy, so how could he stand before the all-worthy God? He was unclean, so how could he approach a being so pure that even to call him "holy" isn't sufficient and the word needs to be stated over and over again? How could an ordinary guy with all his limitations have anything to offer the extraordinary God whose glory fills the earth?

Isaiah's sin was real, but so was God's grace. In a powerful symbolic action, one of the angelic creatures took some tongs, plucked a live coal from the temple altar, and touched Isaiah's mouth with it, saying, "See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for" (v. 7).

With his guilt removed, Isaiah heard the Lord's voice saying, "Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?" And the prophet answered, "Here am I. Send me!"

The Real "I"

All Isaiah had to offer was his real self, utterly dependent on God's grace—and that's all the Lord asks any of us to give.

We have no other choice than to be real with God. He knows our thoughts and intentions. If we try to play games with the Almighty, he will win the contest every time. But when we come to him just as we are and say, "Here am I, send me," we will be amazed at God's response: "Then you will call, and the Lord will answer; you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I" (Isaiah 58:9).