Spring 1986
Looking Beyond Our Present Circumstances
Wade E Taylor

“In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and His train filled the temple. Above it stood the Seraphim: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly. And one cried unto another and said: “Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord of hosts: The whole earth is full of His glory. And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke.” Isaiah 6:1-4

There was a specific time and setting in which these events took place in the life of Isaiah. “IN THE YEAR that King Uzziah died, I saw also the Lord.”

He could have said this in another way: “When all of my dreams and ambitions failed, I realized that I could not, of my own ability, attain to that for which the Lord called me. Then, I looked up to the Lord.” Or; “When I came to the end of my own ways and placed my problems in His hands, the Lord showed me His power and ability to meet my need.”

Before the time of this vision, Isaiah had been taken up with the throne of Uzziah as his means of comfort and support. He had to experience a “death” to this dependence on an earthly King, before he could see the eternal, heavenly King waiting to help him.

“I saw ALSO the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up.” Now, Isaiah could look beyond the vacant earthly throne and see the occupied heavenly throne, with the winged Seraphim standing over it, waiting to act in his behalf. The Lord had been there all along, waiting for Isaiah to look to Him for his help, rather than to King Uzziah.

“And His train filled the TEMPLE.” This “train” (His attendant Glory) that Isaiah saw trailed out from the garment of the Lord, who was seated in His throne, and filled the temple. A verse in the New Testament gives us a further understanding about this “temple.” “Do you not know that YOU ARE THE TEMPLE of God?” I Cor 3:16a

This shows us that His “presence and power” reaches out from the throne and down into our very being. There is a way provided for a direct connection and relationship between the Lord and ourselves.

The world has a way of talking about “The Man upstairs.” They say, “He is up there, some place.” Or, they say, “Will you pray for me, He is so very far away.” Though His throne is eternal, powerful, and transcends all, He is a very PRESENT and AVAILABLE God. WE HAVE ACCESS to our Lord, He is waiting for us to approach Him.

As I look away from my own ability and the natural things that I tend to trust in, I will be able to look up to the Lord in His throne and begin to experience the fact that, “I am His temple and His train reaches down into my very life.” A beautiful communion and trust between myself and my Lord will begin to develop.

Then, I will be brought up into a place of function and purpose with Him in His throne. Note Rev 3:21. “To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I overcame, and am set down with my Father in His throne.”

“ABOVE it stood the Seraphim.” “Above,” not in an earth orientation, (King Uzziah), but above, (King Jesus). “Each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly.”

These wings represent a capacity for movement, for power, and for fulfillment. Now, Isaiah was in a different realm and He saw the throne of God in action in His behalf.

“Seraphim” can be translated, “burning ones.” This speaks of the “manifest presence” of the Lord, reaching down into our life and need. The six wings of the Seraphim, (three sets of two wings each), expresses God manifestly acting in our behalf, His burning presence (The Holy Spirit and Fire), accomplishing His purposes in our lives.

“With twain he covered his face.” No flesh can abide in His presence, our face must be covered. This represents our acknowledging His headship. Our mind is to be covered, that “the mind of Christ” might be free to function through us.

“With twain he covered his feet.” This speaks of our submission to His government, or rule in our lives. We are to “walk in the Spirit,” setting aside our own ways and look to Him for direction and purpose in our lives.

“And with twain he did fly.” This speaks of our coming up into “the life and function” of His eternal Spirit and Kingdom. Note Isaiah 40:31: “But THEY that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength: THEY SHALL MOUNT UP WITH WINGS as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; they shall walk, and not faint.”

As we look away from earthly thrones and come up into a place of trust and communion with Him in His throne, we will merge in with these “winged Seraphim” in their function and worship of the Lord.

“And ONE CRIED UNTO ANOTHER, and said, Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord of hosts: the whole earth is full of His glory. And THE POSTS OF THE DOOR MOVED at the voice of him that cried.”

As we worship Him, the door of heaven will begin to open to us. Then, we will be lifted up into His throne, to be seated together with Him. “And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in Heavenly places in Christ Jesus.” Eph 2:6

“And the house was filled with smoke.” This “house” speaks of the places where we worship, live, and work. The “smoke” speaks of his manifest glory (His train filling the temple), working in our behalf. He is truly a “present” God, at work both in us and in all of our circumstances.

One of the things that really strengthens me is when I see the Lord at work, not so much in the big things, that sometimes happen, but in the little things of my every day life.

Life seldom consists of a lot of big things. Rather, it is made up of so very many small things. It is so easy for us to look to natural ways of meeting these. But, I am to look up to Him, even in small things.

He is seated in His throne. He is waiting for us to look away from our natural sources of help, and to look up to Him. He is both a PRESENT and an AVAILABLE God. How can we help but worship, love and serve Him?