KEY VERSE: “Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me” (Isaiah 6:8).
Great militaries select their elite forces from among the toughest and bravest of men. Candidates for the U.S. Navy SEAL program, for example, are taken through ‘Hell Week’, five-and-half days of gruelling tests of physical endurance, mental toughness, teamwork, attitude, physical/mental stress and sleep deprivation. On average, only one in four candidates make it through and go on to graduate.
God’s ways are far higher than men’s ways, however. When He chooses His elite forces, He looks not for the brave but for the broken. Prophet Isaiah was a good candidate. He had been prophesying prior to his epic encounter in today’s passage. When he came face to face with the Almighty in His glorious majesty, he suddenly realised his own imperfection. Although he cried, “Woe is me! for I am undone,” God replied with an answer of peace. The lively coal from His altar was for the prophet’s sanctification: “thy sin is purged.”
The experience of sanctification is essential for those who would bear God’s message to a corrupt world. Furthermore, standing in God’s awesome presence opened Isaiah’s eyes to the sinful condition of the “people of unclean lips” among whom he dwelt. That revelation qualified him to bear God’s message of repentance to them.
No one could gain real self-awareness of his spiritual state until he came into the immediate presence of the thrice-holy God. You may secretly flatter yourself on your elevated spirituality until the day God shines in your heart “to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ”. When that day arrives, you will see yourself, warts and all. Pray for this glorious experience to be fit for service in God’s special squad.
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