Oh God, Here Am I, Send Me...

Isaiah 6:8 "Then I heard the voice of Adonai saying: "Whom should I send and who will go for Us?" So I said, "Hineni (Here am I). Send me."

And as they say, famous last words!  What I love about this passage of Scripture is that Isaiah doesn't just casually say this statement when He hears the Lord ask, "Who should I send?".  Isaiah was already a prophet.  He was already walking in a measure of the Spirit that was unusual to most people.  And when we get to Chapter 6 we read about this incredible encounter Isaiah has with the Lord.  He is completely broken.  He sees God and is ruined!  He instantly sees his human weakness, his sin and his inadequacy.  He is cleansed by a burning coal from the altar and then God asks this question.  I imagine that's how many of us accept the call of God on our lives.  We encounter God.  He touches our lives in such a way and we become so transformed by Him that He asks us a simple, yet loaded, question.  How can you say no?!  No is no longer an option when you encounter the Living God! And something miraculous happens when the response is, "Here am I. Send me."  No matter how difficult the task ahead may be, and Isaiah was told up front that no one would listen to him, we still gladly accept the mission.  It reminds me of the quote by David Livingstone when he said, "If a commission by an earthly king is considered an honor, how can a commission by a Heavenly King be considered a sacrifice?" His grace is sufficient to accomplish what He asks of us.

Over the past week and half as I've had a few conversations with people regarding the current situation in Israel I am often asked why in the world I want to be there now.  The nation is in war.  Rocket sirens are going off an average of every 10 minutes somewhere in the country.  When I encountered God and He changed my entire life I said yes.  Yes to whatever He would ask of me.  No matter the cost, the answer is yes.  I can't even say yes without Him.  Many people have the same stories.  It's why missionaries all over the world will put themselves in crazy and even dangerous situations.  The deeper I go in God, the deeper this surrender becomes.  I can remember a few years back when I heard a couple that live in Israel that if they were ever in the US and war broke out in Israel they would be on the first plane back.  At the time I admired them but I couldn't have made that statement and I knew I was called to Israel at that time.  I couldn't identify.  Fast forward a few years and a life changing summer in Israel later, I can now definitively say that I identify.  I would give anything to be in Israel right now.  It's because by His Spirit I can say yes and continue to say yes.

The deeper we go with God, the deeper the burdens will go and the more surrendered we become.  The more in love with God we become the more we are compelled to follow Him to wherever He leads.  He ruins our lives, shatters us, asks us to do the impossible and then when we simply say yes He pours out His grace and strength to accomplish the impossible mission.  The deeper we go into His heart, the deeper we want to go.  This is what changes the earth.  God having a people who are completely in love with Him, burning with His passion and then spreading that fire to the ends of earth.  I want to be counted among those that burn their whole lives and die burning with passion for Him!  Who's with me?

The song that has been on repeat tonight and inspired this blog Isaiah 6 featuring Lindy

When God Knits Your Heart to a Nation...

This has been such a roller coaster week for me.  On the one hand I am trying to be "normal" and on the other I succumb to the depths of God's heart for His people.  You see this week an 18 day search for three Israeli teenage boys kidnapped by Hamas terrorists in the West Bank came to a tragic end.  Monday their bodies were found.  The entire nation mourned with the families of these teens.  In fact, some 70,000 (maybe more) people showed up at their memorial service on Tuesday that was also live streamed online.  Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was late arriving (and he was one of the speakers) because he was stuck in traffic!  As the nation mourned I found myself also mourning with them in a much deeper way than I ever thought.  For those 18 days I followed closely the developments of what was taking place.  I knew more about what was happening in Israel than I did in Charlotte.  When I saw the headline Monday come across my phone that their bodies had been found I gasped at my desk at work and sat paralyzed for short time.

Tuesday night as I was trying to work out exactly what was going on with me and my emotions over all this I found myself weeping for Israel.  The range of emotions was overwhelming!  One minute it was grief over the senseless death of 3 innocent boys, the next it was frustration that I am not in Israel, the next it was crying out for the salvation of both Jew and Arab, followed by the sobering reminder that God has called me to a nation where terrorism is almost a daily reality in some form or another and the cycle continued for quite some time.  At one point I asked the Lord what was going on.  What is this about?  And that still small voice gently reminded me that He has knit my heart with Israel.  He has given me HIS heart for this nation.  I was experiencing a small part of God's heart for the nation of Israel.  Total surrender to God and allowing Him to place His desires in our hearts leads to our feeling what He feels for the people He longs to save.  This is across the board for any nation or people that God may put on someone's heart.  It just so happens to be Israel for me.  And even in the midst of all the upheaval and fall out from the tragic event that unfolded Monday I felt this need to be there.  I need to be there because that is where I belong.  It's God's destiny for my life and as scary as it seems sometimes there is no turning back.  Once God arrests your heart, you are never the same.  You can't look back.  It's not even an option.  On this Independence Day Eve I can only think about all of the people who are in spiritual bondage and we as believers have the key to unlock their prison doors in Jesus.

So, through this experience I have seen the Lord drawing me closer to Him.  I've only just begun to barely tap into the depths of His heart and the more broken I'm becoming because of it the deeper I want to go.  Let God break your heart for what breaks His.  Just know that when He does it, you will never be the same again!