“Woe is me!” cried the Prophet Isaiah. “I am finished!”
What could have caused such a cry of anguish? Isaiah had just lost his friend, King Uzziah, to death. I can relate to that kind of anguish, as I’m sure many of us can, but I think it possible that Isaiah’s outburst came from another reason. He said, “In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne…” and as the prophet described the majesty of God, his lament burst from him.
Isaiah fell to his face before God. He repented of his sins, and the sins of the people through their “unclean lips”. An angel flew to him with a hot coal to cleanse his lips; and he received a commission from God to take messages to the people through his newly anointed lips.
Wow. God moved in this man’s life very quickly once the appointed time came for him. I wonder if his life was what we would call “normal” before the king died? I imagine that maybe Isaiah was a courtier to King Uzziah – perhaps a trusted advisor on the affairs of state? Maybe he was at the pinnacle of political success?
Suddenly life changed entirely. With the removal of the king, Isaiah’s eyes popped open to see God. He realized who he was before God and who the people were he served. Now he would serve those same people with a completely different vision. This one contained eternity.
I marvel that God is the same yesterday, today and forever. He still moves obstacles from out of our way when we are determined to do our thing. We lament and cry when we are thwarted and then—suddenly—God shows us Himself and who we are before Him. Our lips are unclean.
But He doesn’t leave us there. He is not only majestic and awesome, but He is loving, too. He has plans for us that are far beyond what our soiled lips can express. He draws us to Himself. He comes right into our world, right into our messes, and cleans us up.
The best part is—He loves changing our lives and lifting us up to be more than we could ever dream. The Bible says He has “immeasurably more” for us than we can ever imagine. All we need to do is give him our lips and follow Him.
“Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?” Then I said, ‘Here am I! Send me.’” Isaiah 6:8.
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