Isaiah is a sad book because the Lord calls Isaiah to be a prophet to his chosen people and then tells them "they're not going to listen to you!" That's a tough sale to have any motivation I would say. But the Lord had shown Isaiah his absolute holiness and made him aware of his own sinfulness and powerfulness without God. Preceding the passage I want to focus on, Isaiah is able to experience God in person Himself, and a seraphim (order of angel) comes to him and puts a live coal on his tongue representing the purging God must do in our lives to make us holy and sinless like Him. At the end of this encounter, Isaiah's response is "Here am I Lord, Send Me!" His motivation was based on the glory and will of the Lord, not what He would benefit from it.
Now to the passage of focus. Let me set the stage. Isaiah has just finished with this awesome experience and answering the call of the Lord on His life. Now he comes to the king, Ahaz, and tells him about a coming attack and the Lords plans for it. What stuck out to me most was not all the prophecies, but King Ahaz's response to Isaiah.
"Moreover the LORD spake again unto Ahaz, saying, Ask thee a sign of the LORD thy God; ask it either in the depth, or in the height above. But Ahaz said, I will not ask, neither will I tempt the LORD. And he (Isaiah) said, Hear ye now, O house of David; Is it a small thing for you to weary men, but will ye weary my God also? Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel." Is. 7:10-14
God commanded Ahaz to ask Him for a sign that God would keep his promise and keep Syria from destroying them. What was his response? "I will not ask, neither will I tempt the Lord!" What kind of answer is this? It sounds well enough. We could say he's in such awe of the Lord's goodness that he feels like he can't ask any more of God. We could say that as Christians we should have faith and not need a sign for God to prove Himself to us. Unfortunately, that is not the case here.
The fact of the matter is that God commanded Ahaz to ask Him for a sign. No other logic is pertinent in the light of this truth. Part of faith and yielding to God is obeying the black and white. He commands it- we do it. We try to make our Christian lives sometimes so spiritual and awe-inspiring that we miss the joy of everyday, practical Christian living- the kind that really helps us to grow. According to The Expositor's Bible Commentary, "There are situations in which outward piety and inward unbelief are identical." Ouch- I know I've been there.
So what was his motivation for this answer? He really didn't care what God had to say. He knew the correct response that a so-called "righteous" person would give. Maybe you use a phrase like "It's God's will" when you want to reject or accept something but you don't really have peace about it. Maybe it's the culture of your church. Maybe the way you dress or the way you worship is influenced by the culture around you and not based in worship and honor of the Lord. Having set guidelines like standards of dress, which some call legalism, is not worship to the Lord. Convictions of your heart based on your personal relationship and leading of the Holy Spirit are. Having a praise band, mood lighting, and the in-style undercut while raising your hands every other minute is not worship to the Lord. A pure heart and a church who's purpose is to glorify God is true worship. Being so in awe of the glory of God that you raise your hands is true worship. Stop following the culture! Just because it's right for your pastor or your best friend, doesn't mean it's right for you.
Give God an opportunity to speak and lead. Don't just do "good" things- go to the college that everyone in your family went to, marry the person that all your friends say is best for you, etc. Christian fellowship has it's place but our goal is not to become clones of each other and say "good" things and do "good" things. Our goal is to allow Christ to consume our soul so that others can see Him. When others see you, they should see God instead. So don't limit yourselves to what you feel or think is right. Give God the chance to lead you and help you conquer great and mighty things which you know not!
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