Then I heard the Lord’s
voice, saying, “Whom can I send?
Who will go for Us?” So I
said, “Here I am. Send me!” Isaiah 6:8 (NCV)
Ever feel inadequate? Like you just don’t quite measure up to
everyone else? You see others going out and advancing God’s kingdom, but you
don’t think you’ve got what it takes for Him to use you. Mother Teresa? Billy
Graham? Sure. You? Not so much.
Isaiah
could certainly relate. When Uzziah, the king of Israel, died, his world was
suddenly thrown into a tailspin. Isaiah had grown up around the king’s court,
so the news of Uzziah’s death left him feeling lost, confused, uncertain and
hopeless. But at this low point in Isaiah’s life, God appeared to him.
Isaiah
writes, “In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a throne,
high and exalted.” It’s an awe-inspiring scene—God sitting on His throne while
heavenly creatures of fire fly all around Him crying out: “Holy, Holy, Holy is
the Lord God Almighty. The whole earth is full of His glory.”
Face to
face with a holy God, Isaiah is overcome with a tremendous sense of his own
inadequacy and unworthiness. He cries out: “Oh, no! I will be destroyed. I am
not pure, and I live among people who are not pure.”
Isaiah’s response is
perfectly understandable. It’s all too easy to feel like we don’t measure up
when we compare ourselves to those around us—how much more so when standing in
front of God! It may be because of our sins, our mistakes or the circumstances
of our past. However, the reality is, before God, we are all in
the same boat. Before Him, all comparisons are meaningless.
But
watch what happens to Isaiah next: God sends an angel to pick up a live burning
coal that was so hot the Bible says the angel had to use tongs just to pick it
up! The angel brings the coal over to Isaiah and places it on his lips,
declaring: “Look, your guilt is taken away, because this hot coal has touched
your lips. Your sin is taken away.” Immediately, while he’s still standing there
processing all of this, Isaiah hears God ask a question: “Whom shall I send,
and who will go for Us?”
When
you were a little kid in school, how did you react when the teacher looked
around the classroom and said, “I have a special errand that needs to get done
today, and I’m looking for someone I can trust to deliver the message for me”?
Did you slink back into your seat and hope you weren’t noticed? Or did your
hand shoot straight up in the air with barely contained excitement? “Pick me!
Pick me!”
That’s
exactly how Isaiah responds. When he hears the Lord asking: “Whom shall I send,
and who will go for Us?”, he doesn’t look around to see if anyone else will
volunteer first. He doesn’t say, “I’m not qualified.” He doesn’t even ask where
he’s going. Without hesitation, he jumps up and cries: “Here I am! Send me!”
Why
does Isaiah’s attitude change? What causes him to change from declaring, “I am
impure!” to saying, “Here I am! Send me!”?
It’s simple. He
is cleansed by the fire of God. In God’s eyes, he is declared clean.
All of his doubts about himself and fears about the future vanish in light of
God’s cleansing, redeeming work in his life.
After
Jesus ascended into heaven, the disciples found themselves in a situation
similar to Isaiah’s. Before leaving, Jesus told them: “You will be My
witnesses—in Jerusalem, in all of Judea, in Samaria, and in every part of the
world.” But now, Jesus—their Master, the one who had spoken those words—was
gone. Their future was uncertain. Timid, fearful and not knowing what to do,
120 men and women isolated themselves in the Upper Room and bolted the door
shut.
Ten
days later, however, everything changed. Those 120 men and women came out of
the Upper Room filled with courage and boldly went out into the streets of
Jerusalem proclaiming the message of Jesus to everyone they met.
Why?
What changed?
It’s simple. The
fire of God had fallen upon them, and they were filled with His Holy Spirit. All
their fears, doubts, weaknesses and insecurities suddenly became meaningless in
light of God’s all-sufficient power in their lives. And God used those 120 men
and women to ignite a fire that continues to blaze today.
Don’t let your past and
present mistakes or circumstances hold you back and keep you from answering
God’s call. It’s not about you and your abilities, strengths or qualifications;
it’s about Him. He has redeemed you. In His eyes, you are
clean. And what God has called clean, no one—not even you—can call unclean.
God is
asking today, “Whom shall I send? Who will go?” Will you answer and say, “Here
I am! Send me!”?
