Whom shall I send, And who will go for Us?

....  Then I said, “Here am I! Send me” (Isaiah 6:8). Isaiah had just had a dramatic encounter with the Lord. He had seen the Him high and lifted up, and His train had filled the temple. The vision, if that is what it was, included seraphim  crying out that the Lord is holy, their voices causing the foundations of the temple to shake (verses 1-4). Isaiah himself was greatly shaken and confesses “I am a man of unclean lips and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips” (verse 5).  One of the seraphim brings a live coal from the alter,  and with it touches Isiah's lips declaring him clean.  The awareness of our sin and that of the culture,  is inevitable in any encounter with the Lord. And when we encounter the Lord without (or before),  He has cleansed us, we too would cry out with Isaiah “Woe is me, I am undone” (verse 5). But thank God,  that when we confess our sin, He is faithful not only to forgive us, but also to cleanse us (1 John 1:9)!

His sin, having been dealt with,  the Lord commissions Isaiah,  inviting him into his destiny with this morning's verse. And also like Isaiah,  we are not saved so we can sit around on clouds playing harps. And while we are not saved by good works, we are called and commissioned unto them (Ephesians 2:8-10). The tender mercies of our God are great, forgiving us of our sin,  cleaning us and assuring us of a place in heaven.  Such tender mercies should motivate us to present our very lives as living sacrifices. This is both our spiritual worship, and the only reasonable response to them (Romans 12:1 AMP).

The callings and commissionings of God are not cake walks. Isaiah was told that the people to whom he was called to prophecy, would not hear him (verses 9-13).  Not that much has changed in several thousand years. Concerning spiritual truths neither then nor now, do people see with their eyes, hear with their ears or understand with their hearts (verse 10). Nevertheless “how can they believe in the One of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them” (Romans 10:14)? And I am hearing the renewed call from the Lord this morning “Whom shall I send, And who will go for Us?” The “us” of course is the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit!

Father, Lord Jesus, Holy Spirit here am I, cleanse me, refine me,  send me and use me.  I cannot do this without You Lord. I need Your help to be the ongoing living sacrifice to which You invite me. Thank You Lord that the commissioning also comes with the grace, the wherewithal to carry it out. Give me, give us the tenacity, the boldness and the wisdom to be Your hands and feet in the midst of this wicked and crooked generation among whom, with Your help we are to shine as lights in the world (Philippians 2:15). But also Lord give us overcoming joy in the midst of it all. And we will give You the Glory in Your precious Name Amen