(Isaiah 65:1 – 2)
“I permitted Myself to be sought by those who did not ask for Me; I permitted Myself to be found by those who did not seek Me. I said, ‘Here am I, here am I,’ To a nation which did not call on My name. [2] “ I have spread out My hands all day long to a rebellious people, Who walk in the way which is not good, following their own thoughts,
Were you aware of the fact that God seeks you with all of his heart, and that any pursuit we might have in his direction is the result of him reaching out to us to fellowship with him first. I don’t know about you, but there have been times in my walk with the Lord when I felt like the Lord really did not want to hear my voice, because I felt like he was disappointed with me. There are those times of course, when we do grieve the heart of God by our behavior, but there is never a time when God does not want to hear your voice, and for you to encounter Him. In the Isaiah 65 passage that I quoted, God is reaching out to Israel in their rebellion, calling them into a place of fellowship and encounter with Him. He says, “I permitted myself to be sought by those who did not ask for me,” and then he said “I permitted myself to be found by those who did not seek me.” What he says next in the 2nd half of verse 1, is what really blows my mind, because he says, “I said, here am I here am I,” and then in verse 2 God says, “I have spread out my hands all day long to rebellious people…”
It’s one thing for God to say that he permits himself to be sought, and to be found, but it is another thing for God to be shouting out to a people who are being rebellious, “Here I am, Here I am.” It is obvious from what God is saying to them that He is not reluctant at all to fellowship with them, or for them to encounter him. It says that he was spreading out his hands to them all day, welcoming them to fellowship. This is the true heart of our God. He does not pout, and hide himself from us because our performance before him isn’t perfect; instead, Song of Solomon 2:14 makes it very clear that our voices are sweet to him, and our presence is lovely to him. God is a God of accessibility, and is not a God who is some kind of otherworldly introvert, who gets tired of people and needs some “ME TIME.” Jesus is called “The Word,” and “The Door,” and both of these titles reference a God who loves to communicate with us, and is always accessible to us. Revelation 4:1 says, “After these things I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven, and the first voice which I had heard, like the sound of a trumpet speaking with me, said, Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after these things.”
Notice some important insight into God’s desire for fellowship with us, and his desire for us to encounter him. We are told that there is a door that continually stands open and on the other side of that door there’s a voice, the sound of a trumpet, inviting us; welcoming us into His presence. Revelation 1:10, 12 says, “I was in this spirit on the Lord’s day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like the sound of a trumpet, and I turned to see the voice that was speaking with me.”
John was 93 years old when he had this experience, and what an amazing description of God’s pursuit to communicate with us. The Lord spoke to John with a loud voice like that of a trumpet FROM BEHIND. I believe this is the Holy Spirit’s way of telling us that God pursues our fellowship even when our backs are turned to him.. He pursues us from behind and speaks loudly to us so as to get our attention, and the result in John’s life, was that he turned to see the voice, and the result was an amazing encounter with God.
Do you see God’s heart here? Do you see how much God wants to be accessible to you, and how he seeks you and longs for you to encounter him. This is who our God is, and this is how much he loves you and me.