Disturb us, Lord

A couple of weeks ago I was viewing videos on YouTube when a video titled “Throwing a Dart at a Map and Flying Wherever it Lands…” appeared in my recommended playlist. Intrigued, I watched as two guys flew to a small town in Missouri and completed ridiculous challenges. I found myself instantly hooked on this channel, so I watched another video and another as these guys hitchhiked, skydived, and threw fashion shows in the backyard… all with strangers. This channel is called Yes Theory and follows four guys living in Los Angeles who go by the motto “Seek Discomfort,” They wish to put themselves and others outside their preconceived comfort zones to make memories and grow as individuals. Yes Theory is like Ferris Bueller trying to help Cameron have the best day ever and learn to smile.

 

 

 

    Anyone who knows me knows that I am kind of like this. I’ve had my fair share of dance-offs with strangers, I’ve eaten iguana, and I’ve even said “yes” to traveling the world for a year to share my God with all in need. So where is this all going you may ask? Well, a similar idea came up a week ago when I was attending Student Life Camp in Sherman, Texas. The second night there was themed “I Am Holy,” and the speaker, Andrew Arthur, preached out of Isaiah 6. I would like to share that sermon with you.

 

In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple. 2 Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. 3 And one called to another and said:

“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts;

 the whole earth is full of his glory!”

 

   You see, King Uzziah was a good king up until the end of his life. Under him, Judah saw great prosperity and they conquered the Philistines and the Arabians. His name was known for far and wide even unto Egypt and the land of the Ammonites. However, he disobeyed God and was plagued with leprosy and thus he stepped down as king and died soon after. Not long after, the prophet Isaiah perceived a vision of God being glorified in heaven by giant beings of immense power. Can you imagine a creature with six wings that flew around singing with voices more powerful than the loudest of lions?, yet they had to cover their faces and legs because they could not look at or be in direct contact with the raw glory of the Most High! Isaiah explains what happens next in verse 4.

 

4 And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke. 5 And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!”

 

    Immediately, Isaiah saw that he was not worthy to be in the presence of the great I AM. I’m sure he had a pair of wings to cover his eyes with. He saw that what he used to glorify God was dirty and impure. His lips were not deserving to speak of Him, his good deeds did not even glimmer in the spotlight of Jehovah’s glory! He went on to speak about this in chapter 64. “We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment.” A filthy garment. Andrew had this to say: “The greatest barrier in your life between you and God isn’t sin, but your self-righteousness; what you think is your best. It is the lie that will lead you further from God.” Isaiah saw that he could never be capable of attaining true righteousness on his own. He witnessed that God does not need our praise, but that we need to join into the praise that our hearts may be lifted to Him. But how could he praise God with unclean lips?

 

 

 

6 Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. 7 And he touched my mouth and said: “Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.”

 

As Mr. Beaver put it in “The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe,” “He is not safe, but He is good.” God gave Isaiah self worth and atonement. Now, you’re probably asking again, “Where is this going? What does this have to do with saying yes?” Here’s where it comes full circle. God is a holy disturbance. When Uzziah grew too hawty, God lowered his pride. When Judah became boastful of their power, God let them be overtaken. When Isaiah relied on his self-righteousness, God revealed His holiness. When we sat in our filthy rags and spoke with polluted lips, He sent Jesus to be ”burned with a coal” that we may be redeemed. God put a disturbance in my life. I’m not going on the World Race because I’m a great person who wants to help others. I’m not going because I am a good Christian who obeys Him in everything I do. I’m going because He disturbed me, and I said, “Yes!” I’m going because He is disturbing me to grow in Him. I’m going because He assigned me worth and I want, nay, NEED to share that with others. I pray that he disturbs my life on this trip, when I return, and for the remainder of my life on this earth.

 

8 And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Then I said, “Here I am! Send me.”

 

“Disturb us, Lord, when we are too well pleased with ourselves,

When our dreams have come true

Because we have dreamed too little,

When we arrived safely

Because we sailed too close to the shore.

 

Disturb us, Lord, when

With the abundance of things we possess

We have lost our thirst

For the waters of life;

Having fallen in love with life,

We have ceased to dream of eternity

And in our efforts to build a new earth,

We have allowed our vision

Of the new Heaven to dim.

 

Disturb us, Lord, to dare more boldly,

To venture on wider seas

Where storms will show Your mastery;

Where losing sight of land,

We shall find the stars.

We ask You to push back

The horizons of our hopes;

And to push into the future

In strength, courage, hope, and love.”

           -Sir Francis Drake

 

//6-21-18 U.S.A

 

P.S. I wrote this entire thing yesterday and when I went to add the above picture, the WHOLE thing got deleted. Sooo I had to rewrite the entire thing. Talk about disturbed lol haha…