The Heart And Hope Of God

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

Yesterday, we looked at the example Isaiah set for us 2800 years ago as he was willing to be sent by the Lord to go and share Christ with others. This is an example we should want to follow, but why should we want to follow it? We discussed the first reason yesterday (God’s holiness), so you can go back and read that devotion if you missed it. But today, we’re going to look at two more reasons why we should want to be sent by God.

The second reason we are sent is because of the heart of God. When you look at the cross, you see the heart of God. When you look at the tears of Jesus, you see the heart of God. When you look at the nail-scared hands of Jesus, you see the heart of God. When you see the suffering of Jesus, you see the heart of God. When you see the death of Jesus you see the heart of God.

The God of both the Old Testament and the New Testament is not primarily a God of condemnation; He is the God of salvation. His first instinct is not to judge sin; His first instinct is to atone for sin. It is because of the heart of God that we are sent. God has a heart for everyone we know without Christ to have their sins atoned for by Christ.

Finally, the third reason we are sent is because of the hope of God. As you well know, we no longer have a draft in this country. We have a totally volunteer army. The only people who serve in the military are the people who volunteer to be sent. God also has a volunteer army, but there is one big difference. He expects everybody to volunteer. He expects everybody to take up their weapon, put on the uniform, take the oath, go through boot camp, and go wherever they are sent.

As any soldier might expect, you are not always sent to easy places. The work is not easy, but we are still to be sent. We are to share the best news, but we are going to run into hearts that are hard, eyes that are blind, ears that are deaf. Yes, you will get more “no’s” than you will get “yes’s.” But what you need to understand is that your mission is accomplished once you go and once you share. Then everything else is up to God. We can always have hope because of Him, and it is because of that hope we can joyfully go wherever we are sent.

Dear Lord, thank you for your heart and for the hope I have in you. As you send me out to wherever you want me to go, help me to have a heart for others as you do, and help me to remain hopeful even when my circumstances feel hopeless. In Jesus’ name, amen.