Here I am Send Me

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

I have been to many different places across the world. As I prepare to lead a team in Belize next week, I would like to share a quick missionary story from my journey.

In 1998, I was asked to do a series of worship workshops with pastors and worship leaders in the nation of Romania. Dr. John McGeorge and I traveled to that former Soviet country to encourage the church in worship. Romania had been decimated from years of cruel leadership under their former dictator, Nicholai Ceausescu.

We had a heavy travel schedule for about 7 days, doing worship workshops all across the country. On Saturday night of the trip, I was really wiped out. As I packed my guitar up after the meeting, an excited man came running up speaking to John very fast in Romanian. John soon leaned over to me and said, “This man wants me to preach in his church tomorrow morning. I am too tired and my voice is shot. Will you preach for him?”

I was in shock.  I was the worship leader, not the preacher. I had never seen this man in my life. I didn’t speak Romanian. I am exhausted. I thought of every excuse not to accept his invitation. Then I felt I should ask God about it. Oh yeah, good idea!

What I heard next stunned me. I felt God whisper to my spirit, “Did you come to serve or be served?”  Conviction ripped through me. I came to this country to lift up Jesus. Now I’m being asked to lay down my life, fight through my fears, press through the fatigue and tell more people about God’s love and greatness. I knew I had to go.

I packed a few things and jumped into a really old van with this man, Mario, and his wife. The van wouldn’t start so they had to push it with five men to get it started. “This is not starting well, ” I said to myself. Only Mario’s wife spoke a few words of English. It was a quiet ride.

We drove for hours through the dark Romanian night. Arriving at their home, a small apartment in a high-rise government housing complex, they had a full meal prepared for me! I couldn’t believe it. At 11 pm in the evening! We ate, shared some stories through broken English and I collapsed in bed.

Next morning, I woke up early to scratch out some coherent thoughts about a Bible verse on faith, and we headed to the church. When we arrived at this small church on a dirt street, I was amazed. The place was packed. People were standing in the aisles. I went to the front and waited. No one spoke English, and I had no idea what he was saying.

After the pastor shared for a long time, he spoke to me through translator, “Now you play guitar and preach.” I prayed a quick prayer, “Oh Lord, please help me. I need you right now.”

I picked up my guitar and sang “Amazing Grace” in English, encouraging them to sing in their native tongue. It was so beautiful. Men were on one side of the church and women on the other. Their voices reverberated off the stucco walls and it sounded like a massive choir.

I shared my simple message on faith to move mountains. My translator was a Calvary Chapel girl who spoke perfect English and Romanian. Then I prayed for tons of people.

As I sat in my room that night waiting to go back to meet my team in the big city, I felt the best tired feeling I had ever experienced. I had given everything in me to lift up Jesus. I had responded to the call, and I saw God do wonders with just a simple step of obedience. I lived my sermon that day.

When God calls you to step out and obey His voice, will you go? Will you answer with Isaiah in today’s verse when God said, “Who will go for us? Whom shall we send?”  Isaiah, after seeing a vision of the Lord high and lifted up, said, “Here I am, Lord. Send me.”

I love that verse. When you’ve seen the Lord, there’s only one answer.

Send me, Lord. Use me, Lord. People need to know you, Lord. I’ll do whatever you need me to do.  When He speaks to us, obedience and faith are the only things that make sense.

Take some time to seek God’s face today. Ask Him what is on His heart. Seek Him for what He is calling you to do in this season. When He speaks, listen for His marching orders. Then answer with Isaiah:

Here I am, Lord. Send me!