WHO’S YOUR ONE? | Week 4 | 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗥𝗜𝗚𝗛𝗧 𝗣𝗘𝗥𝗦𝗣𝗘𝗖𝗧𝗜𝗩𝗘

— Isaiah 6:8

Imagine signing up for a surfing lesson. You buy the gear, listen carefully to the instructor, paddle out into the water, and wait for the waves. But every time one comes, you let it pass. Finally, after the lesson is over, the instructor asks why you never tried. You admit that you were afraid of falling off the board. He reminds you that falling is part of learning. Then you finally confess the real problem: somewhere along the way, you forgot how to swim.

I wonder if something similar can happen to us spiritually.

We know Jesus has called us to make disciples. We know we should pray for people who do not know Christ, look for opportunities to love them, invite them, and share the Gospel with them. We have heard the sermons. We know the verses. We understand the mission.

Yet sometimes the deeper problem isn’t that we don’t know what to do.

𝗦𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗹𝗼𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗮𝘆, 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗵𝗮𝘀 𝗴𝗼𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗻 𝗼𝗳𝗳.

That is what makes Isaiah 6 so powerful.

Isaiah begins by telling us that his encounter with God happened “in the year that King Uzziah died.” Uzziah had reigned for more than fifty years. His death represented the end of an era and a season of real uncertainty for Judah. An earthly throne had become empty.

𝗕𝘂𝘁 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝘃𝗲𝗻’𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗿𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗵𝗮𝗱 𝗻𝗼𝘁.

Isaiah says, 𝘩𝘦 “𝘴𝘢𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘓𝘰𝘳𝘥 𝘴𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘯 𝘢 𝘩𝘪𝘨𝘩 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘭𝘰𝘧𝘵𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘦.”

Before God gave Isaiah a mission, He gave Isaiah a fresh vision of Himself.

That may be exactly where some of us need to begin. When our view of God becomes small, everything else becomes enormous. Our fears become bigger. Our problems become bigger. The opinions of other people become bigger. The possibility of rejection becomes bigger.

But when we remember that God is holy, sovereign, glorious, and still firmly seated on His throne, everything else begins returning to its proper size.

Then something happens to Isaiah that always happens when we truly see God for who He is: Isaiah begins to see himself more clearly.

Standing before the holiness of God, Isaiah does not start pointing out what is wrong with everyone around him. He says, 𝘞𝘰𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘮𝘦…𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘐 𝘢𝘮 𝘢 𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘶𝘯𝘤𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘯 𝘭𝘪𝘱𝘴.

That perspective matters tremendously when we think about people who do not know Christ.

We do not approach lost people as though we are better than they are. We remember that apart from the grace of Jesus, we were lost too. We were separated from God. We could not rescue ourselves. We needed a Savior every bit as desperately as they do.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗚𝗼𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗹 𝗶𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗴𝗼𝗼𝗱 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝘁𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗯𝗮𝗱 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗚𝗼𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗹 𝗶𝘀 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗰𝘂𝗲𝗱 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝘁𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗹𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗰𝘂𝗲 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗯𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱.

Remembering that changes the way we see people. Pride gives way to humility. Condemnation gives way to compassion. Instead of looking at someone and wondering, “What is wrong with them?” we remember, “That could be me apart from the grace of God.”

And if Jesus could rescue us, He can rescue them.

But Isaiah’s story doesn’t end with the recognition of his sin. God cleanses him. The coal from the altar touches the very place Isaiah has confessed as unclean, and God declares that his guilt has been removed.

Only then does Isaiah hear God ask, 𝘞𝘩𝘰 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘐 𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘥? 𝘞𝘩𝘰 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘨𝘰 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘶𝘴?

And Isaiah answers:

𝗛𝗘𝗥𝗘 𝗜 𝗔𝗠. 𝗦𝗘𝗡𝗗 𝗠𝗘.

What changed?

The king was still dead. The nation was still uncertain. The people around Isaiah were still sinful. The mission ahead of him was still going to be difficult.

𝗕𝘂𝘁 𝗜𝘀𝗮𝗶𝗮𝗵 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗱𝗶𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗮𝘂𝘀𝗲 𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗱𝗶𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗻𝘁.

He had seen God rightly. He had seen himself honestly. He had experienced God’s cleansing grace. Now he was ready to be sent.

Maybe before we ask God to give us another opportunity to reach someone, we should ask Him to restore our perspective.

Do I still stand in awe of who God is? Do I remember how desperately I needed His grace? Am I looking at people who are far from Christ with compassion or superiority? Is there something in my own heart that I need to confess and surrender? Am I asking God to work through me while resisting the work He wants to do in me?

Perhaps our prayer today needs to be simple:

𝗚𝗼𝗱, 𝗴𝗲𝘁 𝗺𝘆 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁. 𝗟𝗲𝘁 𝗺𝗲 𝘀𝗲𝗲 𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗮𝗿𝗲. 𝗟𝗲𝘁 𝗺𝗲 𝘀𝗲𝗲 𝗺𝘆𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗳 𝗵𝗼𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗹𝘆. 𝗖𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗻 𝗺𝘆 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘁. 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗺𝘆 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝗮𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱 𝗺𝗲. 𝗔𝗻𝗱 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗮𝘀𝗸, “𝗪𝗵𝗼 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗴𝗼?” 𝗹𝗲𝘁 𝗺𝘆 𝗮𝗻𝘀𝘄𝗲𝗿 𝗯𝗲, “𝗛𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗜 𝗮𝗺. 𝗦𝗲𝗻𝗱 𝗺𝗲.”

Maybe we don’t need another surfing lesson.

𝗠𝗮𝘆𝗯𝗲 𝘄𝗲 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗿𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿 𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝘄𝗶𝗺.