“I saw the Lord, high and exalted, seated on a throne; and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him were seraphim . . . And they were calling to one another . . . At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke. “Woe is me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.” Isaiah 6:1-5

Isaiah’s call startles us with visions of Seraphs and  burning coals. In that Holy space of purity, he sees himself as a man of unclean lips.  Which leads to  one of the Seraphs reaching  into a fire, pulling out a coal, and touching Isaiah’s lips saying, “Now that this has touched your lips, your guilt has departed and your sin is blotted out.” Isaiah 6:7

Only then, assured of his forgiveness and the cleansing of his soul, did Isaiah hear the voice of God saying,“Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?”  Isaiah can only respond, “Here am I. Send me.”Isaiah 6:8

Most of us will never receive a call like Isaiah did. Instead it will be a gentle nudge, persistently coming until we can no longer deny it. Isaiah’s vivid recollection of that moment, colors his life. It is an image to hang onto in the hard places. 

The truth of our call is no less real, than Isaiah’s. There were no visions of  burning coals, but a persistence nudge calling me forward, one step at a time.  Until I finally said yes, to the call which had been there from my youth.

But I wonder, if this startling vision came to Isaiah, because  he had discarded all  God’s nudges before. Painfully aware of his own human vulnerabilities, did he wonder if  those nudges were real?  Did  God have to get past Isaiah’s belief he was unworthy, before he could recognize  God speaking to his heart.

When we feel unworthy, it is difficult to believe that God might have a use for us. Isaiah needed to be assured he was accepted, and loved. Whatever Isaiah thought was holding him back from saying “Yes” to God, was never really in the way. It was only a limitation he set upon himself.

God never stops calling, God never stops drawing us a step at a time, leading us to new places, and new vistas. Ours is to simply follow as God leads, until one day we stand in that holy place . . . And like Isaiah,  are awed by what we see.