Here Am I - Send Me!

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 6:8-9  NIV 

     The prophet Isaiah’s personal encounter with the Living God changed him forever. As he witnessed the Lord exalted above all others, he recognized his own uncleanness. In the midst of his meeting with the Almighty, he was asked, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?”

     A full description of the scene Isaiah viewed begins in verse one of chapter six. Isaiah saw the Lord, His throne, the temple and angels with six wings calling to one another; “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty”. Face to face with the holiness of God, Isaiah recognized his own uncleanness.

     After the recognition of his sin, an angel touched his lips with a live coal from the altar and proclaimed, “…your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.” (verse 7) He then answered the questions, "Whom shall I send?" and "Who will go for us?" with a resounding, “Here am I. Send Me!”

     Isaiah’s ministry spanned the reign of five kings with little positive response from those who heard his message of both judgment and hope. But Isaiah continued to call the nation of Judah back to God and to proclaim God’s salvation through the Messiah.

     Isaiah proclaimed with boldness because he had seen God. In Isaiah 40:21, Isaiah asked a series of questions: “Do you not know? Have you not heard? Has it not been told you from the beginning? Have you not understood since the earth was founded?” Then in verse 22, with the assurance of what he had seen with his own eyes, he stated “He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth…”

     Isaiah’s boldness to proclaim the truth of God came from a personal encounter with the Almighty. He wanted the people of Judah to “get it” as we would say. His heart burned with the message that God is real, judgment is coming, but He will save you from your sin. Few listened.

     Like Isaiah, a personal encounter with the Living God will change you forever. If you have had that experience, you already know that. Once we encounter the Almighty, we are without excuse when asked, “Whom shall I send?” and “Who will go for us?” We should have only one earnest response: Here am I. Send me!

©JP2013