Scobby Snack #5
Isaiah 64:1-3 (New International Version)
"1 Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down, that the mountains would tremble before you! 2 As when fire sets twigs ablaze and causes water to boil, come down to make your name known to your enemies and cause the nations to quake before you! 3 For when you did awesome things that we did not expect, you came down, and the mountains trembled before you."
Some people don't believe it is necessary to ask God to come. Their argument is that He's already here. And you know what...I can't argue with that. But the Bible is replete with examples of people begging God to show up or come down or break through. That seems pretty stupid if He's already here. I have to believe that though God is always present, we don't always see his presence. People hungered for the manifest presence of God somethin' fierce.
"Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down..." I love how the verse starts, with that Holy inspired word, "OH". That word isn't necessary. It's not like it adds any logic to the passage that wouldn't be there without it. It is to many superfluous. But to me, that is the reason I'm a Christian. I love that my walk with God isn't filled with just living out the subject-verb-noun-sentence with an occasional adjective or adverb. I love that it is about "OH's and Ah's and Awe's and Holy Shnikee's". The prophets of old knew that throwing little words like this into the prayer didn't necessarily make them sound astute and reputable, but that's what is so cool about O.T. prophets...nothing about their life spoke of a pedantic performance for the elitist jury of professional peers. They were interested in pouring out their hearts and when their hearts screamed, they did. When their hearts yawned, they did. When their hearts broke, they did. When their hearts yearned, they did. And Isaiah felt like bellowing a robust OHHHHH before diving into the content of what he wanted. It adds passion and pathos to an otherwise straight-forward request. Well, borderline straightforward.
"Rend the heavens and come down...as when fire sets twigs ablaze and causes water to boil..." I would have loved to be in this prayer circle on Wed. night. The prayer is moving around the circle counter-clockwise finally making its way to Isaiah. He groans out an "Oh" and then proceeds to ask God to come in such a way that the wildfire of his presence bursts forth and causes a boiling affect in the hearts of people. At that point I would crack my eyes open (the unpardonable sin of Sunday School) and while squinting, sneek a peek at Isaiah while he spoke to God in all these crazy metaphors and illustrative gestures. It is crazy talk...mountains tembling, sticks burning, water boiling...someone needs to teach him how to talk to God in a way that sounds less like a fairy tale rabbit trail and more like a benediction. But I wonder if God isn't getting bored with how we pray nowadays. This is how people used to talk to him. Now we're so polished and premeditated in our lingo. Prayer is about as exciting as watching paint dry.
"For when you did awesome things that we did not expect, You came down..." Is anyone else tired about hearing about all the things that God used to do? Is anyone else tired of seeing God move in prescribed ways that we've mapped out for Him. Everywhere you turn in Christianity, you know what to expect. Nothing about God or His people is unpredictable anymore it seems. But the awesome thing about this passage is that God shows up and when he does, he doesn't abide by the rules; he goes off limits. He breaks codes and ruins plans.
Where are the unexpected awesome things? This is the question that hunts me down and haunts me through the watches of the night. I can't shake this desire to live in the midst of this kind of movement. I don't want to look back at my life and be able to explain the whole of it. I can only hope that along the way, God does things that defy expectation and explanation. If asked for a definition of the Christian life, I want to say it's this: "God doing awesome things that we could never expect." Oh, that YOU would rip open the heavens and do awesome stuff that blows us away. God forbid that I live without experiencing this very thing.
"1 Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down, that the mountains would tremble before you! 2 As when fire sets twigs ablaze and causes water to boil, come down to make your name known to your enemies and cause the nations to quake before you! 3 For when you did awesome things that we did not expect, you came down, and the mountains trembled before you."
Some people don't believe it is necessary to ask God to come. Their argument is that He's already here. And you know what...I can't argue with that. But the Bible is replete with examples of people begging God to show up or come down or break through. That seems pretty stupid if He's already here. I have to believe that though God is always present, we don't always see his presence. People hungered for the manifest presence of God somethin' fierce.
"Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down..." I love how the verse starts, with that Holy inspired word, "OH". That word isn't necessary. It's not like it adds any logic to the passage that wouldn't be there without it. It is to many superfluous. But to me, that is the reason I'm a Christian. I love that my walk with God isn't filled with just living out the subject-verb-noun-sentence with an occasional adjective or adverb. I love that it is about "OH's and Ah's and Awe's and Holy Shnikee's". The prophets of old knew that throwing little words like this into the prayer didn't necessarily make them sound astute and reputable, but that's what is so cool about O.T. prophets...nothing about their life spoke of a pedantic performance for the elitist jury of professional peers. They were interested in pouring out their hearts and when their hearts screamed, they did. When their hearts yawned, they did. When their hearts broke, they did. When their hearts yearned, they did. And Isaiah felt like bellowing a robust OHHHHH before diving into the content of what he wanted. It adds passion and pathos to an otherwise straight-forward request. Well, borderline straightforward.
"Rend the heavens and come down...as when fire sets twigs ablaze and causes water to boil..." I would have loved to be in this prayer circle on Wed. night. The prayer is moving around the circle counter-clockwise finally making its way to Isaiah. He groans out an "Oh" and then proceeds to ask God to come in such a way that the wildfire of his presence bursts forth and causes a boiling affect in the hearts of people. At that point I would crack my eyes open (the unpardonable sin of Sunday School) and while squinting, sneek a peek at Isaiah while he spoke to God in all these crazy metaphors and illustrative gestures. It is crazy talk...mountains tembling, sticks burning, water boiling...someone needs to teach him how to talk to God in a way that sounds less like a fairy tale rabbit trail and more like a benediction. But I wonder if God isn't getting bored with how we pray nowadays. This is how people used to talk to him. Now we're so polished and premeditated in our lingo. Prayer is about as exciting as watching paint dry.
"For when you did awesome things that we did not expect, You came down..." Is anyone else tired about hearing about all the things that God used to do? Is anyone else tired of seeing God move in prescribed ways that we've mapped out for Him. Everywhere you turn in Christianity, you know what to expect. Nothing about God or His people is unpredictable anymore it seems. But the awesome thing about this passage is that God shows up and when he does, he doesn't abide by the rules; he goes off limits. He breaks codes and ruins plans.
Where are the unexpected awesome things? This is the question that hunts me down and haunts me through the watches of the night. I can't shake this desire to live in the midst of this kind of movement. I don't want to look back at my life and be able to explain the whole of it. I can only hope that along the way, God does things that defy expectation and explanation. If asked for a definition of the Christian life, I want to say it's this: "God doing awesome things that we could never expect." Oh, that YOU would rip open the heavens and do awesome stuff that blows us away. God forbid that I live without experiencing this very thing.
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