“Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?” Isaiah 6:8
I can’t imagine what it must have been like. Standing before the brightness of God’s glory, Isaiah shook with the reality of God’s holiness. A man clearly set apart and a lover of righteousness could not help but blurt out, “Woe is me, for I am ruined! Because I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips; For my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts.”
What a frightful, but beautiful exchange between Isaiah and God. “Oh God, have mercy! It’s not them. It’s me. It’s us. I am undone!”
Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a burning coal in his hand, which he had taken from the altar with tongs. He touched my mouth with it and said, “Behold, this has touched your lips; and your iniquity is taken away and your sin in forgiven.” Isaiah 6:6-7
How sad would it have been if Isaiah never got beyond the overwhelming state of His condition? But no. God made provision for both Isaiah’s forgiveness and his cleansing. How the enemy loves for us to get caught up in the awareness of our sin and stop just short of the exchange that sends us into the unthinkable invitation of God: “Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?”
The prophets of old certainly heard their fair share of commands, but eavesdropping on this conversation with God, it’s a question we hear. I love Isaiah’s tenacious response: “Here am I. Send me!”
“I’ve beheld His glory and I cannot keep Him to myself, I will go! I’ve been cleansed and made clean, I will go! I’m ruined for the life I once lived before this encounter, I will go! I get to partner with God, I will go.”
Oh the power of encountering Jesus! In His presence, we behold Him and are changed. We hear His heart and get to respond. We’ve been ruined for anything less than His kingdom come, His will be done. Standing in the gap, we are sent. Bringing the kingdom everywhere we go, we are sent. What a privilege to partner with God!
Prayer: Father, thank you for your unfailing mercies as you convict, forgive and cleanse us of all that’s foreign to the way you designed us to live in harmony with You. Transform us in the secret place and set our hearts on fire with the mission of heaven that you’ve called us to carry out across the earth! By your grace, we will go. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Hannah Savage, [M]Watch Senior Leadership Team