Isaiah 6:7-8
And he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged.  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.

A vision of God and His holiness reveals to us our sin.  We are far from being holy like He is, and Isaiah’s first response is, “Woe is me.”  And what else is there to say when we can see so clearly how far below God we really are, how sinful we see ourselves to be when His glory shines upon us?  But then Isaiah’s recognition of his sin led to it being purged and his iniquity taken away.  And once his sin was removed, he heard the voice of God so clearly.  He responded to God and answered the call.  He was willing to do something for God—to serve, to go and to tell.

Don’t we hear God’s voice more clearly once our sin has been dealt with?  Now that we’re free of that, we can have closer communion with Him.  We can recognize His voice when we hear it.  And then more than that, we’re willing to respond.  We’re willing to surrender our lives and go do what God wants done.  We’re willing to be used.  We’re willing to let go of the old and reach toward the new.

When God reveals Himself to us, we can’t ever be the same.  Just the small glimpses of His glory that we’re able to see here simply leave us in awe.  We can’t imagine the fullness of it, the brightness that must shine from a holy God.  We can’t imagine a sinless God who loves us more than anything.  Too often, it is too difficult to see past our flesh and into the spiritual realm in which God dwells.  But He pulls back the curtain from time to time.  He reaches toward us.  He gives us forgiveness and cleanses us so we can draw near and hear His voice and go out to fulfill His purposes.

God is truly amazing.  To know Him and to serve Him are truly humbling things.  To have our sins forgiven is almost too good to be true.  And God wants to use us.  We just have to be available and willing, and He’ll take care of the rest.  Surely Isaiah could have never imagined where that one decision would take him, and not only was he used greatly by God, but he came to know God in a deep and personal way that he exposes to us.  So let us respond and go forth not only to do great things for God ourselves, but to know Him in a deeply personal way that can change everything in our lives.