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"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)
This week, we are looking at this one verse in Isaiah where God asks for a willing servant, and Isaiah answers the call. The word "send" is mentioned twice in this one verse. God asks who He can send, and Isaiah answers with the famous line, "Send me!" God is a sending God. He is active in our world, not distant from it, not transcendent to the point that He is not involved. God is very involved and intricately engaged in what is happening in this world. God loves to give and to send. We need to look no further than John 3:16 to realize this. Out of His great love for His creation, God sent His only Son, Jesus, on a rescue mission. Jesus came to redeem us back to God the Father.
When God redeems us, we join His rescue team. He now sends us out to go and help others come to know Jesus. Every day is a new day to be used by God and accomplish our purpose in life: to help others find God. Many people who claim to know God feel that they do not know or understand their purpose or why God has left them on this earth. The reason is simple. After he saved you, He did not take you right to heaven because He wants you to be on mission with Him in helping others experience and enjoy what you have: a relationship with God through His Son Jesus Christ.
God sends some of His children on much more dangerous missions than others. I think about Carrie McDonnall. God called her to go and serve Him in a dangerous county at a most difficult time. Carrie was a missionary to Mosul, Iraq. On March 15, 2004, Carrie, her husband David, and three other coworkers were attacked while serving in Mosul. Their three friends were killed immediately, but David and Carrie managed to get to medical help. But David died due to the wounds he received in the attack. Carrie had been shot 27 times and went into a coma for many days. When she awoke, she learned of her husband's death. She records the incident in her book, Facing Terror. In the forward of the book, Beth Moore writes, "She described the events that you will read about as she unfolds her story in the pages of this book. Like me, you will probably shake your head and wonder how in the world anyone could live to tell it... I can only hope that I am standing close by in heaven when God reveals His glory in Carrie McDonnall and others like her."
I have heard Carrie share her story, and it is so powerful. She is at peace with God knowing that she was obedient to the Lord's call on her life. To serve God always involves a cost. Some obviously pay a higher price than others. But God is so good to His children. He gives that supernatural grace and help at the precise times we need it. Some argue that they could never go and serve and give up so much for God. They feel it would be too high a price to pay. It is hard for us to understand if we have not walked this path. But God meets us at the point of need, and if we are not at that point, then we will not understand until we are.
Isaiah died a martyr's death. Carrie almost did as well. What do they have in common? No regrets. May God help us serve Him no matter what, trusting that He will come through for us at our time of need as He does for all His children.
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