Growing up, when my mother wanted to send us somewhere or wanted us to get something for her, she would call out our names then go silent. With time, we came to understand that when she did that, she wanted us to go to where she was for further instruction.

The conversation would go something like this:

Mum: Victor!!!

Victor: Yes Mum

Mum: (silence)

Victor: Yes Mum

Mum: (more silence)

(Victor slowly opens his bedroom door and goes to Mum who is watching TV in the living room)

Mum: give me that remote that is on the coffee table

Victor: Really Mum, the remote is literally 20 centimetres away from you

 (Please note that Victor made this statement in his mind and not out loud because every African child knows you can never talk back at your mother. It is a crime that can get you a penalty anywhere between 2 whooping sessions and being disowned.)

Now as an adult, I wonder why she did that. Maybe the instruction was too long for her to shout it across the house. Maybe she knew that if she gave us the instruction beforehand, we would be hesitant to obey or would obey begrudgingly. Whatever the reason, this interaction with my mother has shed light on my relationship with God and what obedience looks like for the instructions God gives me.

Consider this,

Isaiah 6 opens with a vision that Isaiah saw of the LORD, high and exalted, seated on a throne (verse 1). Then he heard the voice of the LORD, saying, ‘Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?” Isaiah says “Here am I. Send me” (verse 7). In chapters 1 – 6, Isaiah has encountered God through visions and has detailed what he saw. However, this is the first time we see him being called by God and receiving specific instruction. This can be contrasted with other servants of God such as Gideon and Jeremiah. For these two, the first encounters we see between them and God is when God is calling and giving them instructions. (Judges 6 and Jeremiah 1).

As I was reading Isaiah 6 last week, I came to a quick halt at verse 7. You mean Isaiah said, ‘Send me’ without asking for more details. If I’m being honest, most people (including myself) would ask God to give them the plan first before they decide whether to follow it or not. It only makes sense, right? I mean, we usually read through a job description before accepting a job offer. Technically, Isaiah had an idea of what He was saying yes to. He had previously encountered God through several visions. But still, a little more information would be great Lord.

What shocked me even more, is the instruction that came after.

He [God] said, Go and tell this people:

“‘Be ever hearing, but never understanding;
    be ever seeing, but never perceiving.’
Make the heart of this people calloused;
    make their ears dull
    and close their eyes.
Otherwise they might see with their eyes,
    hear with their ears,
    understand with their hearts,
and turn and be healed.”

This is not your ordinary flowery message. This is a message that would have been hard for the Israelites to hear, and so Isaiah asked the question that is probably in all our minds:

Then I [Isaiah] said, “For how long, Lord?”

And he answered:

“Until the cities lie ruined
    and without inhabitant,
until the houses are left deserted
    and the fields ruined and ravaged,
until the Lord has sent everyone far away
    and the land is utterly forsaken.
And though a tenth remains in the land,
    it will again be laid waste.
But as the terebinth and oak
    leave stumps when they are cut down,
    so the holy seed will be the stump in the land.”

I don’t know about y’all but there are times in my life where I have heard the call of God and given an emphatic ‘Yes’ but as soon as I heard the instruction, I started retreating slowly. I mean, wouldn’t it be nice if the first instruction after Isaiah said ‘Send me’ was like ‘Go and tell the Israelites that I am going to bless them and everything will be fine’. Surely that would have been more palatable to the recipients of the message as an appetiser before Isaiah dropped bombshells as the main meal.

We know that God never wastes any word (Isaiah 55:11) meaning that this exact message that God gave Isaiah was the exact message the people needed to hear at that exact time. Isaiah did later give messages of hope including the prophecies about Jesus dying for our sins (Isaiah 53:5) but those messages came at their own perfect time.

This makes me think of the times that we are living in where everyone has their own version of ‘truth’ and slogans such as ‘Do you’, ‘don’t let anyone tell you what to do’, ‘love is love’ are rampant. Some ministers of the gospel and Christians in general have watered down or pampered up the messages God has given them to become what people want to hear, so they don’t start trending and be #cancelled. This is not new – there were false prophets who were promising the Israelites that their years of exile were almost over, but Jeremiah distinguished these lies by proclaiming the truth in Jeremiah 29. In Numbers 14, the Israelites were so scared of going into the promised land that they even considered, choosing another leader and go back to Egypt and they actually wanted to stone Joshua and Caleb who were trying to tell them how good the land would be – a narrative the Israelites were not ready to hear due to their fear (Numbers 14:1-12).

Paul even warned Timothy about this and surprise, surprise, it perfectly applies to us today

Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction. For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.

Now please note that Paul doesn’t tell him to be mean and hate people, but he asks him to rebuke and encourage with great patience and careful instruction. In this way, we become like Jesus, who ‘came from the Father, full of grace and truth’ (John 1:14).

I recently heard a sermon by Priscilla Shirer where she was saying that we often tell Jesus “Welcome, please feel at home” but we don’t really mean it. In essence, we are saying, “Welcome, but please don’t go into that room which is the toxic relationship I’m in” or “Welcome, but please don’t touch that vase which is this oversexualised TV show I am currently watching that I know you don’t approve of” or “Welcome, but oh don’t get into the pantry where I am hiding this secret addiction.” We say ‘I surrender all’ but do we mean it though? Or is the ‘all’ silent?

We often say Yes to God very fast but when He gives us the instruction, we take back our yes just as fast as we gave it. Isaiah’s call shows us that sometimes the message God is calling us to speak or the life He is calling us to live will not be what others might want to hear or see. This might look like God asking you to share the message with an unbeliever, refuse to engage in corrupt practices at work, correct or rebuke someone in love or maintaining your standards of purity even when you are being teased about them. In these moments, we have to consider the ‘Yes’ we gave to God. Was it a ‘Yes, I will do anything you want me to do’ or was it a ‘Yes, but it depends with what you want me to do’?

Everybody wants resurrection, but resurrection starts with the crucifixion. We all have to get on the cross every single day. If you don’t die to yourself, you’re never going to live for Christ”

Kaylea Coates – WHOA That’s Good Podcast

I must admit, this is a hard blog to write because I am speaking to myself as well. The word of God is sharper than a double-edged sword, right? It’s cutting y’all and me at the same time 😊

Grace and peace as you ponder on this, (see that rhyme I did there 😊),

Victor