Isaiah’s cry—“I’ll go. Send me!”—emerges from a moment when God interrupts a life that was well prepared but not spiritually ready. Isaiah had pedigree, education, influence, and religious devotion. But Isaiah’s readiness required a divine encounter that stripped away illusion and revealed truth.
We live in similar times—disheartening, challenging, often overwhelming. Anger, jealousy, self pity, and fear are waiting to take control when we aren’t spiritually grounded. And unready people often harm themselves and others.
Liberation begins with readiness—readiness to see God, readiness to see ourselves, readiness to confront the systems and conditions that crush human dignity. Isaiah’s readiness began when he “saw the Master.” The vision lifted him from the chaos around him. Liberation requires that same upward gaze: not letting oppressive circumstances place limits on our hope.
Then Isaiah saw God’s robe fill the temple—“all was covered by Him that was formerly uncovered.” This is liberation’s promise: God fills the voids that empire, injustice, and personal brokenness leave behind. Even those who appear successful may carry deep emptiness. But when God enters, wholeness becomes possible.
But readiness requires more than inspiration. It demands self-examination. Isaiah confessed, “Doom… I’m as good as dead.” Liberation theology insists that transformation begins with an unjaundiced look at ourselves, our communities, and the systems that wound us. Only then can God cleanse, heal, and empower.
When Isaiah confessed, right away God came to his rescue. God does not delay liberation. The coal from the altar purged Isaiah’s sin and prepared him for service. Readiness is never achieved by us; it is something God does for us and to us when we submit to God.
And once ready, Isaiah heard the call: “Whom shall I send?” Isaiah’s answer becomes the anthem of every believer committed to justice, healing, and hope: “Send me to the lonely, the brokenhearted, the sick, the lost.”
(We invite your comments. Feel free to share this devotion with your friends and invite them to subscribe by forwarding their email address to the Pastor at: fredjeffsmith@gmail.com)
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