Confessions of a Shattered Pot...

So the strangest thing happened when I was packing to come back home a week ago. My little plant which had been growing so good, mysteriously died. After emptying out the remains I headed back upstairs to my dorm room when I noticed a small crack. I then knew I had to be extra careful or the entire pot would cave and shatter. Just the tiniest bit of my power and I could entirely ruin it.

God's holiness ruins us! When we finally grasp how holy and majestic He is we realize how broken, selfish, and prideful we are. And it destroys us! This happened to Isaiah. If you look at Isaiah 5 starting in verse 8 the entire rest of the chapter he is saying "Woe to you." Meaning, great distress and sorrow will be upon you if you do these things. But in Chapter 6 all of that changes. He sees the Lord seated on the throne. He sees the cherubim crying out "Holy Holy Holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is filled with His glory." And all of a sudden his attitude changes to "Woe is me."

God's majesty and holiness swamp our petty selfishness and our pride is shattered. It was when He saw a glimpse of the Power, Holiness, and Majesty of God that Isaiah was completely ruined. It was then that He began to understand his own depravity. It was then that he cried out that he was a man of unclean lips. And what happened? A seraph touched his lips with a burning coal. Ouch. No thank you. But that's how God heals us sometimes. When a would is infected a doctor may stop the infection by cauterizing the wound. He takes a red hot tool and sears it, burning away the rotten flesh and leaving only what can heal.

So, where do you stand now that you are completely shattered? You are made new. And you are most importantly forgiven. Sometimes God has to keep molding you and breaking you. I know there are times when He says, "Ok Rachel. You're looking good. Oops wait. Nope, you strayed. Got to start over." *insert hammer* So what is the response to someone who has had the world shattering experience? Well, Look what Isaiah did. Isaiah 6:8 "Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, 'Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?' And I said, 'Here I am. Send me!'"

Something else happens when we go from ruined to forgiven; we develop and unquenchable thirst for God. Psalm 63:1 "Oh God, you are my God, earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you, my body longs for you, in a dry and weary land where there is no water."

For some, an encounter with God produces no change in who we are and how we live. For others, God might collide with us, and it changes us temporarily. However, for some of us, a head-on collision with the living, holy God will ruin us-alter us forever. And then here's the last call. Leviticus 11:45 "For I am the LORD who brings you up out of the land of Egypt, to be your God. You shall therefore be holy, for I am holy." Oh. Snap.