Daily Devotion

“But we drag our heels. We're not sure God can be trusted. We ask, "What is this He's asking? What does He have in mind? Where is He taking me?" We come to a dead halt and question our feelings, examine our ability to do the thing or our inclination to comply. To comply! With the Lord of the Universe! The King of Kings, Lord of Lords, the Ancient of Days! … Lord, let my love for You be of the kind that, hearing Your word of command, springs at once to obedient action.”

Elisabeth Elliot · Guided by God's Promises, pp. 340–341

Scripture

Isaiah 6:8 Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” And I said, “Here I am; send me!”

Reflection

Isaiah's "Here I am" did not stem from his confidence in his own abilities, but from his firsthand witness to the holiness and glory of God's throne. When Elisabeth Elliot exclaimed, "To comply! With the Lord of the Universe!", she was reminding us that the essence of calling is not the completion of a task, but the submission to sovereignty. The foresight in a dream is the Lord's gentle confirmation of His presence. The significance of my short-term mission trip to Africa lies not in how much change I can bring there, but in the fact that when I set aside the rational judgment of "Why me?" and simply say "Send me" because of His greatness, my life enters into God's eternal plan. Obedience means no longer considering the difficulty of the circumstances, but only the love and omnipotence of the one who issues the command.