Whom should I send as a messenger to this people? Who will go for us? I said, ‘Here I am. Send me.’ Isaiah 6:8.
The Bible is filled with examples of people who were summoned to be messengers for God. They weren’t always cooperative, often giving excuses of why they couldn’t do what God was asking. Moses, for example, complained that he was not skillful nor eloquent. But God wasn’t taking no for an answer.
People like Noah and Abraham seemed to be very compliant and obedient. At God’s direction, off Noah went to gather wood and begin building an Ark. And Abraham packed the U-Haul and drove off in the direction God sent him.
Jeremiah, the prophet, had his doubts about whether he should accept God’s call. God said to him, “Before you were born I set you apart and appointed you as my prophet to the nations.” And then God supplied Jeremiah with the message and courage Jeremiah needed to accept the call.
Paul, the apostle, had a similar interaction with Jesus post-resurrection. “I am Jesus, the one you are persecuting! Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.”
All of these people, Isaiah, Noah, Abraham,, Jeremiah, and Paul, were given an important task to do for God and were subsequently prepared and qualified to do that work. There were certain characteristics that they all possessed which made them good candidates for God’s work.
- They were open. By that I mean that they were not cynical and thus closed to the possibility of God directing them.
- They were humble. Each of these men had confessed in one way or another that they felt inadequate for the task and couldn’t understand why God would choose them.
- They were compliant and faithful. What God was asking them to do on his behalf was extraordinarily difficult in some way.
These men are good models for anyone who wants to do the work of God in this age. How would that translate to your life and your context?
Prayer: O God, we are impressed and humbled by the lives of people like Isaiah, and we want to have the same humiity and faithfulness as they did. Please help us to be more attentive in our own lives. We pray this in Jesus’ name. Amen.