CLEANSED THEN USED

Before God can use us, He needs to cleanse us. In Isaiah 6:1-9, Isaiah realized that he had a sinful, unclean mouth that needed to be dealt with. I believe that because Isaiah’s heart cried for change (verse 5), God sent help. The coming forward of the seraphim with a coal of fire is recorded in verse 6 as an instantaneous happening, but answers may not always come so quickly to us. We all would prefer miraculous deliverance, but most of the time the Lord puts us through a cleansing process. Notice that God forgave Isaiah’s sin and then issued a call: "Who will go for Us?" (Isaiah 6:8). Isaiah responded, "Here am I; send me" (verse 9). Isaiah’s heart wanted to serve the Lord, and God knew that. God will always look for someone who has a perfect heart toward Him, not necessarily someone who has a perfect performance before Him. When the Lord has a person’s heart, He can always change the behaviour. This truth should encourage those of us who want to be used by God, but who often feel that we just have too many flaws. God uses "cracked pots", as the saying goes. We come to Him as we are, and He moulds and makes us into vessels fit for His use (2 Timothy 2:21). After Isaiah’s mouth had been cleansed, God called him, saying, "Go and tell this people…" (Isaiah 6:9). The call, the anointing, and the appoint-ment can occur in different time periods, but no matter how they take place or in what order, the process of preparation is as important to us today as it was to Isaiah long ago. One thing is sure: When God calls us into His Presence, He is going to deal with us, and we must let Him do that. He is doing a good work! [The Everyday Life Bible with Notes and Commentary by Joyce Meyer, Faith Words, 2006].