Isaiah 6:1    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.

Dear Fellowship of the Burning Heart:

Have you ever experienced circumstances so dramatic, so unsettling, so upsetting that they rocked your world, sending you searching for new meaning to life, a reevaluation of your present situation, a reordering of priorities?

Isaiah notes that King Uzziah died. He was a powerful and, for the most part godly king who reigned from 792 to 740 BC, but was stricken with leprosy, and remained leprous until his death, because he insisted on offering incense in the temple. That presumption cost the king greatly.

It seems that Isaiah was affected by the passing of Uzziah. He uses the death as a marker for this vision, because it seems to have made a powerful impression on him. Something was stirring in the soul of Isaiah. Perhaps he needed a reassurance of God’s presence or leading.

In 1975 I found myself in a situation where I was struggling to find God’s leading for my future. I was attending a Bible college, but was unsure that I wanted to pursue the ministry. My father had left the ministry years earlier, bitter and disillusioned about Christians (so called) and the church, and he discouraged me from considering this option. I wasn’t particularly eager to pursue this path anyway, realizing that it would be a difficult path demanding sacrifice and humility.

I found myself at a Christian summer camp as a counselor and, unexpectedly during an evening service, God spoke to me deeply in my spirit. I knew unmistakably that he was the source of the voice and I could neither ignore nor expel the impact of his presence. I could only lie on my face before him in silence, weeping for what seemed like an eternity, though the incident only lasted an hour or so. Upon rising from that encounter, I left determined not only to continue my Bible college education, but to enter the ministry as well. That encounter with God has propelled me through over 38 years of Christian ministry, certain that this is God’s leading for my life. Though my dad declared emphatically that this was the last thing in the world he would have wished for me, this path has proven both satisfying and rewarding.

Another incident occurred in 2006, when I lost my best friend, his teenage daughter, and two parents to death within the course of less than a year. There are times when circumstances will no longer permit us to continue on our present course in comfort and security. We are shaken to the core and our comfort and stability are unmasked as fear, insecurity and faithlessness. We see that what we have been satisfied to accept as our lot, what we have been willing to endure as our station in life, the price we have been willing to pay for maintaining the status quo, is no longer agreeable, no longer acceptable, no longer tolerable. I was set on a course that redirected my pursuits and brought me to Nashville, TN.

This past year brought changes that caused me to take a hard inward look. The fact that I am entering my last decade of ministry before age starts becoming a hindrance (or at least the effects of age) has also precipitated the desire to answer a challenging question: How can I spend these years most effectively? I don’t want to waste a single day, because there are so many less left to accomplish what God has called me to do. And there is a stirring in my soul to move to a deeper level of knowing God. I also want to leave, as Paul said, faithful men who will be able to teach others. It’s time to consider the kind of legacy I want to leave behind.

I confess that I am a little apprehensive (fearful) about these rumblings of God in my soul. They usually mean that he is going to shake up my world again. That’s the challenge of following God; you don’t know all that will need to change, but you are certain that things will change.

I wonder if this is what Isaiah experienced “in the year King Uzziah died.” I’m also wondering if any of my readers have experienced what I am describing.