Here Am I: Send Me!Sample

“You’re going to do what?” is one of my favorite phrases from the original Top Gun movie. It is the cry of response from Merlin when Maverick says he’s bringing the enemy closer. It might also reflect how Isaiah felt after he received the message he was called to deliver from the Lord.

Isaiah would be delivering a message to people who would not listen, would not respond, and would be exiled from their land. The messenger is not to be evaluated by the response to the message, only the accuracy of the transmission of it. Isaiah volunteered to go for God without knowing the content of the Lord’s message. When he hears what is going to happen, he asks a serious question, “Until when?”. How long will this abandonment last?

The Lord’s answer is until only a holy seed remains! God’s refining work is never pleasant. But it was necessary for them, and it may be necessary for us as well. The remnant of faith survived the tough days. It will again. Those who are true believers will continue to live out their faith even in the toughest of circumstances. The good news for followers of Jesus is that the Lord has promised that He will never leave us or forsake us until the end of the age.

There is a second part of these verses that needs to be explored before we close. Namely, the idea that God may be calling you to go share his message to a difficult audience. Like the prophets of old, not every messenger of the Lord, will have an audience that desires to follow the Lord. Sometimes the sharing of the message will fall on deaf ears or hard ground. Do not mistake the lack of visible results with a mistaken call to go. The faithfulness of the messenger is measured in the accuracy of the transmission of the truth of the message, not the popular response to it. We all want the masses to come to Jesus. We want them to be changed by an encounter with the Living God, just as we have been. Jesus said that few would find the road that leads to eternal life. More will find the broad way that leads to destruction.

We have an obligation to go. We are not responsible for the results. The call remains, “Who will go for us?” How will you respond?