The Person of Godʼs Choice
Image © 2011, Timothy Lee; used with permission.
Isaiah 66:2 For all those things hath mine hand made, and all those things have been, saith the LORD: but to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word.
The Lord asks this question, “Are you going to make a place for me? All the things of earth are made by me: I am not looking for a place, I am looking for a person.” The world boasts of many so-called great and influential men. They are able to sway many by their words. There are many so-called megachurches that attract thousands. Is the Lord pleased with buildings? I dare say no, because He is not looking for buildings but bodies, bodies that are willing to be living sacrifices. What kind of person is the Lord looking for?
He is looking for a person who is poor
Poverty of the inner man refers to a thinking that we are not and never good enough. It is an understanding that God is great and before Him, we are nothing. It is the right estimation of our true self. Some may proudly think they are something; God will reject these people for God resisteth the proud. God is looking for a person with the proper estimation of himself, that we are poor in our spirit.
He is looking for a person who is of a contrite spirit
The word contrite refers to a broken spirit. Our world is filled with people who are of a strong spirit, who believe in themselves and believe in their own capability. God is looking for someone who is of a broken spirit, one that says, “Without God and through myself alone, I canʼt. There is nothing that I will do that will please God.” The individual is very well aware of Godʼs holiness and has a personal sense of sin and how we are weak in Christ. God is looking for a humble man and a person who is of a broken spirit, one who knows his own sense of fruitlessness without God.
He is looking for a person who trembles at His word
God is looking for someone who is humble, broken and one who reverences and holds Godʼs word on a high platform and in high esteem. One who trembles at Godʼs word refers to one who knows, believes and is deeply aware of the reality that Godʼs promises are true and there is also the promise that what God says in judgment, He will carry out. The Lord Jesus says that we are to fear Him who is able to destroy both body and soul in hell. A trembling refers to a shaking in fear in the heart and mind of the individual when the word of God is presented, knowing that what the Lord hath said, He will do it.
Do you not yearn for the presence of God? Do you not care that God is with you, or absent from you? Learn the characteristic of a child in the presence God: he is humble, he is of a broken heart and he loves and trembles at the word of God. Are you humble today? Do you realise your sin and is broken by it? Do you realise that God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble?
God is looking for a person; do we fit His mould? If you are, press on and keep on regardless of the obstacles, and If not, seek His face, for God is near to those who are of a broken and contrite heart.
Evangelist-Pastor Johnny Tan
Ambassador Baptist Church