Then I heard the voice of Adonai saying, "Whom should I send? Who
will go for us?" I answered, "I’m here, send me!" (Isaiah 6:8;
CJB)
It has been said, "God loves you and has a wonderful
plan for your life." There is certainly some truth in this, but it implies
a certain kind of focus on ourselves that I don't think is correct. God indeed
has a wonderful plan and he is interested in individuals, but to understand how
God desires relationship with us, we need to know how we are to connect with
his plan.
This week's Haftarah (weekly portion from the Hebrew
prophets) draws us into one of the most spiritually intense scenes in the
entire Bible. It occurred around the time of the death of a once great king of
Judah, named Uzziah (not to be confused with the prophet Isaiah who is a key
character and author of this account). I
say, "once great" since Uzziah, who began so well, spent his last
days in isolation due to his contracting leprosy as a result of defiant pride.
It was against the backdrop of this depressing situation
that the prophet Isaiah was overwhelmed by a vivid heavenly vision in which he
came to see his own dismal moral and spiritual state. As God is known to do, he
responded to Isaiah's honest confession by cleansing him of his sin, which in
turns set up the invitation. It is this invitation that provides insight into
God's invitation to us.
After Isaiah's cleansing, he heard God say, "Whom
should I send? Who will go for us?" to which he replied "I'm here,
send me!" It wasn't until after Isaiah accepted the invitation that God
told him what to do. That God doesn't tend to reveal the specifics of his will
until after we offer our services to him is a message for another time. For
now, I want to focus on the invitation itself.
God issued a general invitation in Isaiah's hearing, which
he accepted. God had a mission and was looking for those who were willing to
participate. Isaiah accepted. I am aware that there other occasions in the
Bible when specific people are called by God for particular tasks. But not this
time. This was a general invitation to no one in particular. Isaiah heard. He
accepted and became part of God's wonderful plan.
Some may be quick to point out that even though the
invitation in this account only looks nonspecific, God actually intentionally
designed it for Isaiah alone. He knew how to hook Isaiah and purposely set him
up to respond exactly as he did. Perhaps this is how it worked. But the story
isn't told that way. How God does what he does is not explained. Some people
have made some pretty good guesses as to God's mechanics, but that misses the
point of this and many other Bible stories.
God has a mission today. It is a mission to be part of his
rescue operation promised to Abraham and fulfilled in Yeshua the Messiah. God is looking for those who will extend his
rule in the name of Yeshua, who gave himself as the perfect and final sacrifice
for sin, rose from the dead, and ascended to God's right hand until he returns
to judge the world. Yeshua's kingdom has impacted almost every nation on earth,
transforming millions of lives. God's wonderful plan, though often ignored and
ridiculed, has been the greatest force on earth for good these past two
thousand years.
It is not so much that God has a wonderful plan for each of
our lives, but that he invites us to be part of his wonderful plan. Do you hear
his invitation?
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