Day 91 — Seeing The Face of God
Our devotionals are a little different this week, written from the perspective of the character in the Bible passage. This practice of ‘Adoration’ helps us to ‘sit’ in the Scripture and use our imagination to take us into the story in a new way – towards a place of adoration of Jesus. You can read the passages in your Bible first to find the original context and trust that the Spirit is with you as you read and reflect today.
Luke 11: 1–5 & Isaiah 6:1–7
“Woe to me!” I cried. “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, Yahweh Almighty.”
It had been an all-nighter. Three of us in my boat, from dusk to dawn, all for nothing. Diddly Squat. It happens. Not often, but it happens. But it’s not just our families that’ll go hungry, the marketers rely on us and letting them down can put the whole business on a knife-edge. We’d tried everything, lamps, reverse trawls, the shallows, the deep, nothing.
We were shattered but, somehow, we’d had a good night together. The craic had been ace. Zeb’s ‘Thunderkids’ were in fine form in the other boat. At one point, we were chatting about the crazy moment when Isaiah claimed he’d seen God’s actual face. Seven centuries ago, the story goes, he was in the temple (the First One, the Great Temple) and there was an earth tremor and he must have seen right into the holiest place. Who knows what he actually saw? But he was shaken to the core. ‘Rescue me, I’m a potty mouth, we all are…’ Funny response but it stuck with me.
Well, we’d drawn up on the beach, were unloading and laying up the nets when the Master came over, asked us to take him out on the lake a bit, make it easier for the crowd to hear. Really weary but we pushed mine out and he used that. After a while, he said why don’t we go fishing? Again? Fishing? Seriously? I felt he knew we’d grafted all shift but I assumed he somehow wanted to thank us, reward us, maybe teach us some stuff.
Honestly, it was totally ridiculous. We had to call Zeb’s lads over to help with the catch and, even then, with both boats, could hardly cope. Back on shore, the Master stood there, smiling. I looked at his face and knew what Isaiah felt: grateful, excited, frightened.
“I’d steer clear of the likes of me, if I were you”, I growled, avoiding his eyes. It was as if he didn’t even hear me. “Shalom to you, Simon. You’re going to be humanity’s fisherman!”
Prayer: Lord Jesus, I give you my worship. I see, in your face, the love of the Father: concern for me, my life, my work, my character, my worries. You see past my shame, my failures, my angst and call me as a co-worker in your mission of re-creation. I offer you my skills, my stuff, my time, energy, money… all as a worship deed. And I’ll follow you, wherever. Amen.
Brian Eccleshall