Sunday, September 8, 2024

 

ON SECOND THOUGHT!

 

Isa 6:8-11

8 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.

9 And he said, Go, and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not.

10 Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and convert, and be healed.

11 Then said I, Lord, how long? And he answered, Until the cities be wasted without inhabitant, and the houses without man, and the land be utterly desolate…

 

          Isaiah had seen the Lord in his glory and the light of that glory revealed his sin and shame. He was brought under a deep conviction of his sin. But then cleansing was applied from the sacrifice. Now, being in right relationship with God, he was able to perceive the heart of God.

 

          He overheard the Godhead ponder the need for a messenger and he eagerly volunteered. Perhaps Isaiah imagined that he would be able to turn the hearts of the people back to God, having just done so himself. Perhaps there would be a great revival, and he would see great success for his preaching. But it was not to be! No, Isaiah was to go and tell but they would not understand; they would not see nor perceive. They just wouldn’t “get it!”

 

          Isaiah now realizes he had just volunteered for a task that would be unsatisfying and wearisome. He would preach but nothing would happen; nothing would change. He felt he could not rescind his offer but perhaps he could negotiate the terms. He asks: “Lord, how long?”

 

          The program of God is not always what we prefer. Like Isaiah, we are ministering in a time of great spiritual ignorance and moral stubbornness. We preach but nothing happens. People just don’t seem to “get it.” They will come to hear but they will not understand. The purposes of God are not our own. We do not always move from victory to victory but are sometimes called to a monotonous sameness that makes us clock watchers praying for an end to it.

 

          Verse 13 gives Isaiah enough encouragement to keep going. So we preach the truth not because people will understand but because it is the truth. We do right not because it is popular but because it is right. We persevere because it is His program and not our own.

 

Dear Lord, let me be a faithful witness. Open the eyes and ears and hearts of those that hear that they might be converted. AMEN