“In the year that King Uzziah died . . .” (6:1). This is the “Here am I, send me” chapter of Isaiah. Of course, that offer is predicated upon the fact that Isaiah had seen the Lord “high and lifted up.” He came “face to face” with God. He encountered God. To have this experience is to have a life-changing experience, very much like Peter and the disciples, very much like Paul on the road to Damascus and, of course, very much like so many others. You can just tell if someone has had such an experience with God, can’t you?
To “see” God, to know him, is to be changed. It is to see things differently than ever before. It is to have our priorities completed shifted. We find ourselves going and telling, for we know that the gospel is “the power of God unto salvation” (Romans 1:16) and that it will, as God blesses, accomplish all God’s purposes. Julia Johnston, in her hymn “Here Am I,” has provided for us an appropriate prayer:
Ready for Thy service,
Master, here am I!
Hush my heart to hear Thee calling from on high.
Choose Thou for me, let me still reply
O master, here am I!