In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord, high and exalted, seated on a throne; and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him were seraphim, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. And they were calling to one another: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory.” At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke.
“Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.” Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. With it he touched my mouth and said, “See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.” Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?” And I said, “Here am I. Send me!”
Isaiah 6:1-8
I once heard someone say that there’s a reason God leaves us here on earth even after we become his child and doesn’t just immediately take us home. He has a purpose for us. There is a part of his master plan that directly involves each one of us. We have a job to do. I so desperately want to live out God’s plan for me. I know that part of that is being the best wife, mother, friend, neighbor etc. in the places God puts me. But I also believe there’s more.
One of Jesus’ parables talks about how certain servants of the king invested gold they had been entrusted with. It’s clear in the story that Jesus wants us to multiply our God-given gifts and opportunities and not just hoard them for ourselves. To the servants that successfully grew their gold, the king’s response was: “Well done good and faithful servant.” (Matthew 25:23) I long to hear Jesus say those words to me when I am finally face to face with him.
When I read the passage above from Isaiah, I notice a few things about Isaiah’s calling and his response. First of all, he saw God. Now although he as a prophet of the Lord to the Israelites he was allowed to have an actual glimpse of God, we can see God, too. All throughout the Bible God shows himself to us. And although we may not see him with our eyes, we can see him with our heart and mind. We can know what he looks like and because of that, we can discern between the things of God and the things of the world. We can recognize the opportunities he provides us to participate in his plan.
Secondly, Isaiah recognized God’s complete and unmatchable holiness and in contrast, his own unworthiness. God is God. Everything that happens is allowed by him. Nothing is outside of his will. He created the world and everything in it and ultimately everything he has in store will come to pass. We can either be an eager participant or we can sit on the sidelines and watch it all unfold. Our decision to get involved or not in no way impacts God’s plan, only our opportunity to be part of it.
Which leads to Isaiah’s eager response. “Here I am. Send me!” At that point he had no idea what that meant. But it didn’t matter. He knew that by going all-in for God, he could not lose. I want that same eagerness to respond. I want to be an active participant in God’s unfolding plan, not just a sideline spectator! I want to say “Here I am, Send me!” And then see where God takes me!