Last week, I was struck by two statements in Isaiah 65:1-2. “To a nation that did not call on my name, I said, ‘Here am I, here am I.’ All day long I have held out my hands to an obstinate people….”
The vision of God calling and reaching out to people who disregard Him struck me deeply. Many times, I have disregarded God in the craziness and chaos of living life and distanced myself from Him. All the while, He says…Here am I, here am I. He repeats it to grab my attention and underscore His intent. All day long He stretches out toward me longing for me to reach back. It’s overwhelming and completely undoing that Yahweh, the Eternal Majesty, continually reaches for my self-centered preoccupied soul.
God is the silent footfall at my side leaving invisible tracks of glittering glory winding through the reality of my messy days. He does not pursue me for anything in me, but what lies in the core of Him. We are an undeserving obstinate people, that God deeply loves and gave His life to redeem. His open hands are an open door to a deeper dimension of knowing Him. I cannot get my mind around why the transcendent God would open Himself to a personal encounter with me.
When I seek Him and when I don’t, when I cry for help and when I’m self-sufficient, all day long He holds out His hands to me. Catch that? All day long He is reaching for you. Right now, before you read further, pause with that picture. Envision the open hands of God before you. Sit with it. Ponder it.
He is reaching through all of my life whether I see Him or not. He says, “Here am I” in the unfolding Spring bud. In the dropping Autumn leaf, “Here am I.” In the first beat of a new heart and the stilling of another, “Here am I.” In the colors of dawn and in the deepest darkness of night, “Here am I.” When surrounded by a never-ending stream of issues and people and when alone in the silence of myself, “Here am I.” Here am I in your mess. Here am I in your joy. Here am I when you face challenges and struggles. I am named “God with you.” Name Me in your peace and in your turmoil. Name Me at the insurmountable and impossible. When the way ahead is unclear, here am I, I AM with you. See Me.
There’s a phrase from the movie Avatar that has found its way into my soul and into my dialog with God: I see you. It means, I see your love. I see your heart and soul for me and you mean everything to me.
Every moment holds the possibility of a personal, intimate encounter with the transcendent God. This is the sum and whole of the journey – to respond to His loving invitation and be filled with the fullness of His life. My part is to turn toward Him in trusting openness throughout my day, and say, “I see You.”
Why does He so persistently reach for me? What does He want? Does He want me to spend more time reading scripture, volunteering at church, taking up a cause, giving more money, helping people, surrendering my time and talents to Him, etc., etc.? I used to think so. Those doings are outcomes but they are not what God is so intentionally and passionately pursuing. Maybe He’s opening His hands to take my fears, my worries, my struggles and my pain so that I can rest in His sweet embrace and simply be with Him. His whisper of “Here am I” is His reach of tender compassion. He wants me see Him and sink into His love. He will do the rest as it most pleases Him.
I see You, and You mean everything to me.