"We are not meant to be seen as God’s perfect, bright-shining examples, but to be seen as the everyday essence of ordinary life exhibiting the miracle of His grace."

- Oswald Chambers

Thoughts on Isaiah 6

I never realized just how intense of a man Isaiah was.

Yesterday I was reading Ch 6. That chapter has been pretty inspirational to me, especially this past year. It reminds me that even though God may not call me specifically for a certain task, I need to be developing a willing and ready heart... and that there may times He will enable me to step up to do something nobody would want to do.

For the first time (-__-), I paid attention to God's instructions to Isaiah. God told Isaiah to speak words to the Israelites that would harden their hearts towards Him. God basically sends Isaiah to turn people away from Him and thus destroy them for eternity.

When I think about things God calls us to do, I think of loving Him, loving others, spreading the Good News, and spreading His name. I think of His call for each of us to be salt and light wherever we are. And I think about the hope we have in predestination: that because of God's sovereign will to save, there will be harvest whether we live to see it or not.

Yet with Isaiah here, God sent him to basically do anti-missions! God sent him to turn people away from Him and guaranteed that "cities [will] lie waste without inhabitant, and houses without people, and the land [will become] a desolate waste..."

-___- I had never realized the depth of Isaiah's faith. I saw his willingness and readiness, but not how his faith was grounded in God's character rather than His actions.

Of course it's awesome when I can give thanks and praise for what God can do, but deeper intimacy with Him should lead me to worship Him simply for who He is. I guess it is logical, then, for Him to care more about who we are (our hearts), than what we do...