Devotion written by Kendra Linaman, Vice President of Operations & Staff Care
And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Then I said, “Here I am! Send me.” – Isaiah 6:8
“God did not address the call to Isaiah; Isaiah overheard God saying, “Who will go for us?” The call of God is not for the special few, it is for everyone. Whether or not I hear God’s call depends upon the state of my ears; and what I hear depends upon my disposition. “Many are called but few are chosen,” that is, few prove themselves the chosen ones. The chosen ones are those who have come into relationship with God through Jesus Christ whereby their disposition has been altered and their ears unstopped, and they hear the still small voice questioning all the time, “Who will go for us?” It is not a question of God singling out a man and saying, “Now you go.” God did not lay a strong compulsion on Isaiah; Isaiah was in the presence of God and he overheard the call, and realized that there was nothing else for him but to say, in conscious freedom, “Here I am, send me.” Get out of your mind the idea of expecting God to come with compulsions and pleadings. When our Lord called His disciples there was no irresistible compulsion from outside. The quiet passionate insistence of His “Follow Me” was spoken to men with every power wide awake. If we let the spirit of God bring us face to face with God, we too shall hear something akin to what Isaiah heard, the still small voice of God; and in perfect freedom will say, “Here am I, send me” (Oswald Chambers, 1935, quoted from devotional day, January 14).
A couple of weeks ago I read this devotion by Oswald Chambers from “My Utmost for His Highest” and Isaiah’s words have stayed with me, “Here I am! Send me.” As Oswald Chambers stated, the call of God is not just for the special few, it is for each and every one of us. He has given each of us gifts, that we have the choice to use to be part of His plan. He has given us the freedom to say, “Here I am! Send me.” This is our choice. To hear this call we must intentionally create space to hear God’s voice. When we are still and we cut out the noise, in the quiet we will hear His voice. When we hear His gentle prompting I pray each of us has the courage to stand up and say, “Here I am! Send me.”