“Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me.” Isaiah 6:8
Isn’t it interesting how we can take something that has been written so long ago and apply it to our lives today? Here, Isaiah was not called to an easy assignment. He was called to go where God sent him – a place where the people may not even listen. This is where the deeper message becomes so beautiful. Sometimes the assignment isn’t about the response we receive, it’s about our obedience to the one who sends.
Have you ever heard that question deep in your spirit? Have you ever had that moment in your life where God asked that question who will go?
In this moment Isaiah found himself standing in the presence of a Holy God. He’s seen the Lord on high and lifted up with glory filling the temple. In that moment Isaiah became painfully aware of his own unworthiness. He cries out.
Before Isaiah was sent… he was surrendered. Notice the order. Before he carried the message God dealt with the messenger. Before he stepped into the assignment, he had an encounter with the one who was assigning him. And perhaps sometimes that is where God begins with us too. Sometimes we want to know where we’re going. Before we say yes we want to know what it will cost? Who will be there? Will the people will receive us or reject us? Will the road will be comfortable?
This is what I have learned in my own experience the same message that will soften a receptive heart will also harden an unreceptive heart. So in sending forth the message to people known to be unreceptive their condition is worsens. Notice where you are. Notice where God places you. Notice the people around you. It’s not about me. Someone taught me that a long time ago it will never be about me. It’s about who God will reach through me and my message.
Willingness. The quality or state of being willing. A condition. A way of existing. Just like the word gratitude. Words like these show how something exists rather than an action it does.
Whom Shall I send?
What will your response be? Because we all have purpose. Isaiah didn’t say send me if it’s easy. He didn’t say send me if they will listen. He didn’t say send me if I understand everything.
Simply
Here Am I. Send me.
Powerful five words life-changing, mountain moving words. That is the heart of an available life. He may send us into a difficult season, an unfamiliar environment, or a place where we never expected to be… sometimes our assignment isn’t found in a place we would have ever chosen for ourselves. But what if the place that we thought was a detour was actually a divine appointment? What if the difficult place was not evidence that God had forgotten us, but the very place where He intended to use us?
Isaiah’s assignment wasn’t easy. God told him he would speak to people who would not readily receive what he said. His mission would require endurance. He was being sent into a hard place with a hard message. Come on!
There is something powerful about being willing to be used wherever you are. You don’t have to wait till everything is perfect. You don’t have to wait until you have the right title, the right platform, or the right circumstance. You don’t have to wait until your life looks the way you think it should look. God can use you right where you are. He can use the places you have been.
He can use the things that you survived. He can use the lessons you learned in the valley. He can use the scars that remind you that you made it through. Nothing surrendered to God is wasted. Every ending is a new beginning. There was a quiet lesson here about surrender. We don’t always get to choose the assignment. We don’t always get to choose the people. We don’t always get to choose the timing. But we can choose our response. Here Am I. I am available. I am willing. I’m no longer running. I give you control. Send me. These words are freeing. Because when we stop trying to direct every step and become willing to follow God’s direction something changes inside of us. We begin to understand that our lives are merely not about getting from one comfortable place to another. We are here to become vessels through which God can reach somebody else.
Maybe God has placed you somewhere difficult because someone there needs the testimony of what God can do with a surrendered life. And what He used, the steps you took that got you there. We do not need to be perfect to be useful. He asks us to be available.
Isaiah didn’t volunteer because he had everything figured out, he volunteered because he had an encounter with God. And when you’ve truly encountered God you begin to
understand that your past does not have to disqualify you from your purpose. The very places that once broke you became places from which God sends you to help somebody else. Who will go? Who will go into the difficult place? Who will love when it isn’t returned? Who will speak life when everyone else is speaking to death? Who will stand when it’s easier to walk away? Who will carry the message? Who will say yes?
Here Am I.
3 words – Then. Send me.
Wherever He sends you go. Whatever He asks you to do trust Him. Whoever He places in your path love them. Whatever part of your story He chooses to use surrender it. Because your assignment may not always look like what you imagine. Maybe it will look like an ordinary Wednesday night. And with God never leading you, you will know that your placement can be your platform. Because you’re pain has become purpose. Do not wait for the perfect circumstance, do not hide if you don’t feel like you’re ready. You have been prepared. Just remember wherever He sends you, He has already gone before you.
