Woe is me!

After Isaiah's epic encounter with God, it reveals one thing: things are not as they seem.  After the angelic chorus rings and the entire temple starts shaking, Isaiah's reaction is a worshipful "Woe is me!"  How filthy I am, compared to God.  He realizes he is nothing and everything he knows in this world is a sham compared to the majesty of God.

Isaiah 6:5,7: Then said I, Woe is me!  For I am undone and ruined, because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts! And with [a hot coal from off the altar, the angel] touched my mouth and said, Behold, this has touched your lips; your inequity and guilt are taken away, and your sin is completely atoned for and forgiven.

Only after we experience God, TRULY experience his magnificence in a pure way, can we fully realize who we are in relation to Him.  We realize our follies and our mistakes, and immediately realize our necessity for Him.  When we see God, we see who we are.  And when we see who He is, we see exactly who we're not.  But the glorious news is that he is God and able to forgive all who are repentant.  May we search for God, with the fervent expectation that we will see Him, then see exactly how we can be more like Him.