Scripture in Action

Aneel Aranha is an author, preacher, and evangelist who has spoken to hundreds of thousands of people around the world. You can find a huge selection of his reflections, articles, sermons, songs and other resources on his app.

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Scripture in Action

Day 186

September 16, 2025 • Aneel Aranha • Season 3 • Episode 186

0:00 | 14:56

Discover God's restorative power through Isaiah 64-66 and 2 Corinthians 2, learning how humble hearts become dwelling places for divine mercy and transformation.

Day 186 – Here Am I, Here Am I

Isaiah 64–66
2 Corinthians 2

Most of us have prayed some version of this prayer. God, would you just show up. Isaiah 64 opens exactly there. Oh, that you would tear open the heavens and come down. It's the cry of people tired of waiting, and it comes with a hard admission. Even our righteous acts are like filthy rags. Then chapter 65 answers, and it isn't the answer the prayer expected. God says he revealed himself to people who never asked for him. He was found by those who weren't looking. All day long he held out his hands to an obstinate people and said, here am I, here am I. He was never the one who was absent. Chapter 66 says heaven is his throne and earth is his footstool, and then names the person he looks on with favor. The one who is humble and contrite in spirit, and who trembles at his word. Paul tells the Corinthians what happens when that presence gets into a life. God spreads through us the aroma of the knowledge of him. Not an argument. A scent that reaches a room before anyone decides what to think of you. Read side by side, these chapters show a God who moves first, bends low, and then sends us out carrying him.

One thread ties all of this together. God isn't waiting for us to pray loudly enough to bring him down. He already came toward people who weren't asking, and he stoops to the contrite, who then carry him into the world.

So how do we put this into action?

First, think back over the last month. Name one good thing that happened which you didn't pray for, didn't arrange, and didn't deserve. Thank God for it out loud today. Let it stand as evidence that he moves first.

Second, pick one room you'll walk into today. Your office, a checkout line, the dinner table. Decide before you go in that you'll leave it smelling of Christ and not of yourself. Mostly that means asking about other people's lives and not steering the talk back to your own.

Third, find one line of Scripture that unsettles you instead of comforting you. Sit with it for five minutes without softening it. Isaiah says God looks at the person who trembles at his word.

Let this stay with you today. God was found by people who weren't even looking for him. He is not far off, and he is not reluctant.

Thank you for joining me today. May God give you an honest heart, a humble spirit, and eyes that notice where he's already standing. Until tomorrow, keep your heart open to God and your confidence in his faithfulness.