“Here am I! Send me”: what Isaiah 6 says about saying yes

Isaiah 6 is one of the best-known calling stories in the Bible. It ends with a short answer that Christians still pray today. To understand that answer, read the whole chapter, because Isaiah did not start out confident.

The setting

The chapter opens with a date.

“In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up” (Isaiah 6:1, NKJV)

Uzziah had been king of Judah for fifty-two years (2 Chronicles 26:3). His death marked the end of a long era. At that moment of change, Isaiah sees the Lord himself on the throne.

He sees seraphim, heavenly beings, crying out to one another about God’s holiness. The doorposts shake at the voice of the one who cries out, and the temple fills with smoke (Isaiah 6:2-4).

Isaiah’s first response

Isaiah’s first reaction is fear, along with a sudden awareness of his own sin. He says:

“I am a man of unclean lips, And I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips” (Isaiah 6:5, NKJV)

This matters for anyone who feels unqualified. Isaiah’s first words are an admission that he is unfit to stand in front of God. Seeing God clearly showed him himself clearly.

Many people hold back from serving God because they know their own failings too well. Isaiah knew his, and God dealt with them directly.

God deals with the problem first

One of the seraphim takes a live coal from the altar and touches Isaiah’s mouth with it.

“Behold, this has touched your lips; Your iniquity is taken away, And your sin purged.” (Isaiah 6:7, NKJV)

The order is important. Isaiah is cleansed before he is sent. His call rests on what God has done for him. Christians read this in the light of the cross, where Jesus dealt with sin once and for all.

So if you feel too broken or too ordinary to be useful, Isaiah 6 gives you somewhere to take that feeling. Bring it to God, and let him deal with it.

The question and the answer

Only after this does Isaiah hear God speak.

“Whom shall I send, And who will go for Us?” (Isaiah 6:8, NKJV)

God asks an open question, without naming anyone. Isaiah answers in the same verse with the words in the title of this post: “Here am I! Send me.”

Notice what Isaiah does not know yet. He has not been told what the message is, or how long the work will last. He says yes to God before he knows the details.

The hard part that follows

People often stop reading at verse 8. The rest of the chapter is much harder. God tells Isaiah, “Go, and tell this people” (Isaiah 6:9, NKJV), and the people will hear the message without understanding it.

Isaiah asks, “Lord, how long?” (Isaiah 6:11, NKJV). The answer describes ruined cities and an empty land. Even so, the chapter ends with a small sign of hope: a stump left in the land, which it calls “the holy seed” (Isaiah 6:13, NKJV).

Isaiah’s yes led to a hard assignment with few quick results. He was called to be faithful whatever the response. That is worth knowing before you pray the same prayer.

What this means for us

You may never see a vision like Isaiah’s. The pattern of the chapter still speaks to ordinary Christians:

1. Isaiah saw God as he is, holy and in charge.
2. He was honest about his own sin.
3. He received God’s cleansing.
4. He heard God’s question and answered it.
5. He kept going when the work was hard.

That order guards against two problems. One is pride, where we rush to serve before we have met with God. The other is false humility, where we refuse to serve because we feel unworthy, even after God has dealt with our guilt.

Praying “Lord, use me”

In episode 3 of Tea Time With Thandie, Thandie talks about what God does through us as well as for us, and about praying “Lord, use me”. The episode looks at Isaiah and Esther, and at the example of Christ. It also talks about treating opportunities as assignments.

That idea fits Isaiah 6 well. An opportunity in front of you might be the very place where God is asking, “Whom shall I send, And who will go for Us?” You can read about Esther’s version of this moment in For such a time as this: Esther 4:14 explained.

Before you say yes

If you want to pray Isaiah’s prayer, a few questions may help:

• Have I spent time with God, or am I mainly excited about the task?
• Is there sin I need to bring to him first?
• Am I willing to serve if no one notices?
• Who could pray with me and help me test what I am sensing?

Our post on how to know what God is calling you to do has more practical steps. If fear is the main thing holding you back, Christian creatives: using your gifts without hiding them may help too.

Listen to the full conversation in episode 3 of Tea Time With Thandie.