Heroes of the Faith, Part 8Àpẹrẹ

Hope for Good

Bible story: Isaiah - Isaiah 6:1-8, 9:6-7, 42:1-4, 53, 65:17-19

Theme verse: 2 Corinthians 5:20

Let’s look at a prophet who had a very special job. God called Isaiah as a prophet. Isaiah saw an incredible vision of heaven (Isaiah 6). When you continue to spend time with God every day, as you follow and obey God and pursue Him in every part of your life, you too will understand more and more how holy and awesome our God is. And like Peter, when he recognized who Jesus was and recognized his own sin (Luke 5:8), when you recognize God’s holiness, you will also see your own sin and helplessness more clearly.

But don’t worry! In Isaiah’s vision, the angel touched his lips and said he was clean. In the same way, Jesus calls you clean, not because of anything you have done but because of what He did (John 15:3). Then in the vision, God asked who He could send, and Isaiah said, “Pick me! Send me!” Today, too, God is looking all over the earth to see who is fully committed to Him (2 Chronicles 16:9) and who can He send on His behalf. You can tell him to pick you! You are commissioned by God to represent Him in this world, and to encourage people to follow Him (2 Corinthians 5:20).

Isaiah had an awesome job! If you ask God to pick you, He could have amazing things for you, too. Isaiah got to prophesy about Jesus’ coming. God showed him a hopeful future for Israel and for the whole world.

Almost a thousand years later, a disciple named Philip met an Ethiopian who was reading this very same book of Isaiah that we’re reading from today. He read the prophesy in Isaiah 53:7, and when Philip explained it to him, the Eunuch accepted Jesus! So, too, when you ask God to send you like Isaiah, God will do amazing things through you. When we look around, we can only see the small area round us and the little time of our lives. When God looks around, He sees the whole world and all of time before and after us. He is planning all kinds of wonderful things that can start with your simple “yes.” But you won’t know just how much God did through you until you get to heaven, where perhaps you will be completely astounded to see how God continued to use you long after you were gone from the earth.

Speaking of heaven, Isaiah kept looking forward to the good, far into the future. God gave him a job to prophesy not just about Jesus but about heaven as well. Will you ask God to pick you to go out and bring hope to the world by pointing them to Jesus and helping them look forward to heaven as well?

I choose to ask God to pick me and to look forward to God’s wonderful future.

Questions:

1. People are saying to believe or declare the promises of God, but how can we tell which ones are true and which ones are false? What do we do?

2. Was there a time that you believed that God would do something and then He did it?

3. How long do we need to wait and hope for good?

Application to life:

Every time something good happens this week, think about how much better heaven will be. Whenever something bad happens, remember how God will wipe away all tears in heaven. Bonus (only do this if you want to): ask God to choose you and send you. This is very serious. If you ask Him, He may choose and send you.