THE SMELL OF VICTORY

The Smell of Victory

“In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of His robe filled the temple.” — Isaiah 6:1

 “More than a Word, we need to be asking God for a coal from the altar in His presence.“ - PG

Why Does Victory Feel So Far Away When Life Gets Hard?
Victory does not come when everything is easy. It comes most often when everything feels like it is falling apart. Think about the labor and delivery room. There is pressure, struggle, and effort. But when the breakthrough comes, there is a release unlike anything else.

If your life feels like it is getting harder and harder, that may not be a sign that things are getting worse. It may be a sign that you are getting closer to your breakthrough. The more intense the labor, the closer the delivery.

What Does "In the Year That King Uzziah Died" Really Mean?
Isaiah 6:1 opens with a striking detail: "In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of His robe filled the temple."

Uzziah had ruled Judah for 52 years. Under his leadership, there was military strength, agricultural development, and national stability. But over time, Uzziah began to believe his own success was his own doing. He walked into the temple to offer incense, a role that was not his, and when the priests corrected him, he refused to receive it.

The lesson is clear. If no one has permission to call you out, no one has permission to call you up. Uzziah's refusal to be corrected led to leprosy and isolation. He spent his final years removed from the very people and purpose he had once served.

What Happens When We Refuse to Be Teachable?
There are seasons of isolation that are not simply the result of what we have done wrong. Sometimes they are the result of refusing to learn. Refusing correction can extend a difficult season far longer than necessary.

The Israelites did not wander for 40 years because the journey was that long. It took 40 years to get Egypt out of them so they could hold the promise of God. Some of us are not seeing seasons of breakthrough simply because we will not be teachable.

Everyone is your superior in some way. Children can teach you about faith. Correction from others can save you from years of unnecessary wandering. Humility is not weakness. It is the doorway to promotion.

How Does God Show Up in Seasons of Loss?
When Uzziah died, Isaiah was grieving. The king he had known for his entire life was gone. And it is in that moment of loss that Isaiah sees the Lord seated on the throne.

Sometimes God has to vacate a throne here so that you can see clearly that the throne up there has never been empty.

Psalm 23 captures this same shift. David begins by talking about God: "The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters. He restores my soul." (Psalm 23:1-3, New King James Version)

But then something changes. In verse 4, David stops talking about God and starts talking to Him: "Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me." (Psalm 23:4, New King James Version)
It was the valley that turned David's theology into conversation. The most powerful prayer often comes from the deepest pain.

What Does It Mean That God Is "High and Lifted Up"?
Isaiah saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up. These are two distinct things worth understanding.

To be high means He got there on His own. God is self-sufficient. He is not motivated by your worship because He needs affirmation. He is the Most High God. He does not need you to lift Him in order for Him to be high.

Philippians 2:9-11 says: "Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." (Philippians 2:9-11, New King James Version)
Whatever name you can name, He has a name above it. Depression, diabetes, divorce, infertility, anxiety. There is a name above every one of them.

Why Does It Matter That We Lift Jesus?
To be lifted means others put Him in that position. And this is where your worship becomes powerful.

Jesus said in John 12:32: "And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself." (John 12:32, New King James Version)
If you will lift Him above your circumstances, He will draw you above your circumstances. If you will lift Him above your struggles, He will draw you above your struggles. This is the power of praise. It is not just an emotional response. It is a spiritual strategy.

Even the enemies of Jesus unknowingly demonstrated this principle. When they crucified Him, they lifted Him. And in lifting Him, they drew the whole world to salvation. The very act meant to destroy Him became the act that drew us to Him.

What Does the Train of His Robe Have to Do With Victory?
In ancient times, when a king won a battle, the robe of the defeated king would be cut and sewn onto the train of the conquering king. The longer the train, the more victories the king had won. The defeated king would then be paraded through the city in shame and exposure.

When Isaiah saw the train of God's robe filling the temple, He was seeing a picture of God's victories. So numerous were they that they filled every empty space in the room.

Colossians 2:15 speaks to this directly, describing how God made a public spectacle of the enemy through the cross. The enemy who once had authority was stripped of it and put on display.

God is not just going to give you victory. He is going to embarrass the adversary who tried to rob you of your family, your peace, your identity, and your joy.
What Is the Role of Holiness in Experiencing God's Presence?
The seraphim in Isaiah 6 were not crying about what the service lacked or what position they did not have. They were crying to one another: "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of His glory!" (Isaiah 6:3, New King James Version)

And the doorposts shook. Not at the presence of God alone, but at the sound of reverence from those in the room.

When Isaiah encountered this holiness, his response was not pride. It was confession. "Woe is me, for I am undone! 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." (Isaiah 6:5, New King James Version)
When you are truly enthralled by the holiness of God, you do not have time to find the flaws in others. You are too aware of your own need for grace.

What Does the Coal From the Altar Represent?
After Isaiah's confession, a seraphim flew to him with a live coal from the altar and touched his lips. The angel declared: "Behold, this has touched your lips; your iniquity is taken away, and your sin purged." (Isaiah 6:7, New King James Version)

The word iniquity in Hebrew means to be bent or twisted. We are all born bent toward something. This is why Jesus said we must be born again. When we are born of the Spirit, He begins to untwist what sin and generational patterns have bent in us.

Some people are not just fighting their own battles. They are fighting battles that were handed down through generations. Patterns of addiction, confusion, and brokenness that started long before them. But the coal from the altar of God can purge both what was inherited and what was chosen.

Whom the Son sets free is free indeed. You do not have to carry a label from your past as a permanent identity. Purification is available. Confession opens the door.
What Does It Mean to Look for Coals Instead of Just Words?

Everyone wants a word from God. But what we actually need is the coal. We need the purifying fire that prepares us to carry the word with integrity.
Before seeking what God wants to say through you, ask Him to do what He needs to do in you. Purity of heart and mouth is not a barrier to God's use of your life. It is the very thing that makes it possible.

Live This Out Loud
Turn On: “You Are Holy” by Jesus Image and proceed through the rest of this blog.
Keep God on the throne. 
When something in your life feels uncertain or out of control, remind yourself that the throne of heaven has never been empty. Begin your day by looking to the One who is still seated above every circumstance.
Lift Jesus above your circumstances. 
Whatever has been sitting above your faith—fear, loss, disappointment, anxiety, or uncertainty—intentionally lift Jesus higher. If you will lift Him above your circumstances, He will draw you above your circumstances.
Stay teachable. 
Give God permission to correct you. Receive correction from Scripture, the Holy Spirit, and the people He has placed around you. Humility is not weakness; it is the doorway to promotion.
Look for the coal, not just the word. 
Don't only ask God what He wants to say through you. Ask Him what He wants to purify in you. Let His fire prepare you to carry His word with integrity.
Confess what God reveals. 
When the holiness of God exposes something in you, don't hide from it. Bring it into the light. Confession opens the door for purification.
Stop carrying what God has purged. 
You do not have to carry a label from your past as a permanent identity. What God has forgiven does not need to remain a defining mark on your life. Whom the Son sets free is free indeed.
Make room for victory. 
When something is vacated in your life, don't assume it is merely an empty space. Give God room to fill it. He can turn loss into an encounter, brokenness into healing, and empty places into evidence of His victory.

My Prayer
Father, I come to You in the name of Jesus, and acknowledge You are still seated on the throne. When everything around me feels uncertain, help me see You high and lifted up. Teach me to lift Jesus above my circumstances, my fears, my losses, and my questions. Give me a teachable heart that receives correction and responds with humility.
Search me and reveal anything in me that needs to be surrendered. I don't want to simply hear another word from You; I want the coal from Your altar to purify me. Take away what needs to be taken away, untwist what sin has bent, and cleanse what keeps me from carrying Your presence well.
Fill every vacant place with Your presence. Let Your victory become greater than my loss, Your holiness greater than my shame, and Your throne greater than anything that tries to take its place.
I declare that You are high and lifted up. You are still King. You are still holy. You are still victorious.
And because You are on the throne, I can trust You with every empty place.
In Jesus' name, Amen.

Marked By His Presence,
PG