February 15th | Don't Bring God Down To Our Level

So often, when we're in those dark, humiliating, or desolate places—feeling broken, unworthy, or cast aside—that's exactly where God meets us. In the stillness, He invites us to stop striving, stop fighting, stop yelling back at life... and simply listen. Be still. Hear His voice.

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We must never try to reduce God to our own human level. Isaiah powerfully reminds us that God is holy—the Hebrew word qadosh (or qadowsh) means set apart, sacred, utterly unique, the Holy One. God is not like us in any casual or ordinary way. He's perfect in all He does, infinitely higher and purer than anything we can imagine.

Think about it: In heaven, God receives ceaseless worship from majestic angelic beings, including the seraphim—fiery, six-winged creatures who surround His throne, crying "Holy, holy, holy" (Isaiah 6:3). If even these powerful heavenly hosts bow in awe, why would we ever treat Him as anything less than the exalted King He truly is?

Isaiah 55:8-9 captures this beautifully:

"For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the Lord. "As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts."

This truth hits home in Isaiah's own encounter with God in chapter 6. When the prophet saw the Lord high and lifted up in what was the heavenly temple (I think), he was overwhelmed by his own sinfulness. 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."* (Isaiah 6:5, NIV)

In that moment of raw confession, God didn't shame or reject him. Instead, one of the seraphim flew to Isaiah with a live coal from the altar, touched his lips, and declared,

"See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for." (Isaiah 6:7, NIV)

And then comes one of the most inspiring responses in all of Scripture—verse 8:

Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?" And I said, "Here am I. Send me!" (Isaiah 6:8, NIV)

Isaiah's honest confession didn't push him away from God—it drew him closer. God cleansed him and then commissioned him. What an incredible parallel we see here: the burning coal from the altar points forward to Jesus' sacrifice on the cross, where our guilt is fully removed and our sins atoned for once and for all.

So often, when we're in those dark, humiliating, or desolate places—feeling broken, unworthy, or cast aside—that's exactly where God meets us. In the stillness, He invites us to stop striving, stop fighting, stop yelling back at life... and simply listen. Be still. Hear His voice.

And when we do, may our response echo Isaiah's bold surrender:

"Here am I. Send me!"

Let that be our prayer today: Lord, remind us of Your unmatched holiness. Cleanse us where we fall short, may we never bring you down to our level, and use even our broken moments to draw us nearer to You. We're ready—send us. Amen.