Here Am I... Send Me

What happens when God asks a question that could change your entire life?

In this episode of the Intentional Grounding Godcast – Letters to Isaiah, Coach Dombrowski dives deep into Isaiah 6:8: “Here am I. Send me.” Together we explore why so many people feel called but stay stuck, the fears that keep us from saying yes, and how God uses ordinary people who are simply willing.

This episode will challenge you to stop waiting until you feel ready, identify the area of your life where God has been stirring your heart, and take your first step of obedience. If you have ever wrestled with fear, doubt, calling, purpose, or surrender, this episode is for you.

Transcript

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What do you do when you know God is asking something of you, but you're just terrified to say yes. Welcome to the Intentional Grounding Godcast Letters to Isaiah. I'm your faith strategist coach Dombrowski, and today we're going to walk through one of the most dangerous, beautiful, and life-changing verses in all of Scripture. Today we're stepping into Isaiah 6, verse 8. 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. This is not just a verse about calling. This is a verse about surrender, about courage. It's about obedience when you don't have the full picture. And if we're honest, most of us love the idea of God using us until we realize it might cost us some comfort. And maybe that's where you're at right now. You know there's something stirring in your spirit. You know there's a conversation that you need to have, or a dream you've been avoiding. You know there's a step of faith sitting in front of you, but you keep saying, Not yet. I'm not ready. What if I fail? What if I'm not good enough? Or what if somebody else is better for this? And maybe what's keeping you stuck is not that you don't love God. Maybe what's keeping you stuck is that you're waiting to feel perfectly prepared before you obey. But Isaiah 6, 8 teaches us that God's not looking for people who have it all figured out. He's looking for people who are available. Now, this week I found myself thinking about all those moments in life when we hesitate. Like the moments when you know exactly what you should do, but the fear keeps whispering louder than faith. Like maybe you know you need to start that ministry. Maybe you know you need to apologize or you need to stop staying where you're tolerated and start walking where you're called. Maybe you know God's been stirring something in your life for years. But there's something about the unknown, right, that makes us freeze. Because if we say yes to God, we lose control. And that's exactly where Isaiah found himself. All right. So before Isaiah ever says, Here am I, send me, something happens first. Isaiah sees God. All right. Literally, the scene opener in chapter six with these words is, In the year that King Isaiah died, I saw the Lord, high and exalted, seated on a throne. All right. The king is gone, the nation is unstable, the future is uncertain, and the thing that Isaiah trusted in is no longer there. And right in the middle of uncertainty, God reveals himself. And sometimes God becomes the clearest when everything else falls apart. And then the throne Isaiah sees is not empty because while King Isaiah may have died, God was still reigning. And that matters for somebody that's listening today. Maybe something in your life ended. Maybe the relationship ended or the job changed. Maybe the dream you built your life around didn't work out. Maybe your certainty died. But the throne is still occupied. God is still God. All right. So I want to walk through a couple of steps with you because I do believe that there are three steps of calling. First is revelation. Before Isaiah receives a calling, he receives a revelation. He sees who God is. Too many people want a purpose without presence. They want a calling without surrender. They want God to tell them what to do before they spend time discovering who He is. And calling always begins with revelation. The clearer you see God, the clearer you begin to see your purpose. Which brings us to realization. All right. Isaiah immediately responds, Woe to me, I am ruined, for I am a man of unclean lips. In other words, when Isaiah sees God clearly, he sees himself clearly. He realizes I'm not enough. I'm broken. I have flaws. And truthfully, that's where a lot of people stop. They think that their weakness disqualifies them. But God never called Isaiah because Isaiah was perfect. God called Isaiah because Isaiah was willing. And that leads into the response. So only after Isaiah is cleansed does God ask, whom shall I send? And Isaiah answers, Here am I, send me. Okay, God didn't force him, God invited him. Love always gives you a choice. And one of the biggest lies that we believe is this I will obey once I feel ready. But the readiness is not what produces the obedience. Obedience, friends, is what produces readiness. And if you wait until you're fearless, you're never going to move. If you wait until you have every answer, you're just going to stay stuck forever. I mean, most people want God to show them the entire staircase. But God usually only gives us just that one step. And that first step might be sending the message, applying for the job, starting that Bible study. You know, have the conversation. Walk away from what is draining your spirit and stop hiding the gift that God put inside of you. You don't have to have all the answers to take that first step. I think somebody listening today has been carrying something in their heart for a long time. Like you've been feeling called. Instead of moving forward, you've been taking yourself or even talking yourself out of it. Like you keep saying, Who am I? I'm not qualified. I don't know enough. I've made too many mistakes. But God uses people like you and me all the time. Right? He used ordinary people, Moses. Moses said he couldn't speak. He used Jeremiah. Jeremiah said he was too young. He used Gideon. Said he was the weakest. Right? Peter, apostle of Jesus, was impulsive. God doesn't call the qualified, he qualifies the called. All right. And man, I think that one simple word keeps us from saying yes. And you probably guessed it already. Fear. Fear of failure. What if I mess this up? I mean, you're probably gonna make mistakes. So did everyone that God ever used. Failure is not proof that you missed God. Sometimes failure is how God grows you. Or maybe fear of people. What will the people think? Guys, you can't spend your entire life obeying the crowd and still fully obey God. I mean, crowd changes its mind constantly. God does not. Well, what about fear of inadequacy? I do not have enough. The truth is, you don't. Not by yourself. That's why God never asks us to do it alone. Right? Or the fear of the unknown. Well, what happens next? You might not know. But faith is not trusting the plan. Faith is trusting the one who made the plan. All right. Your calling is often hidden inside your burden. Pay attention to what breaks your heart. Pay attention to what keeps stirring inside of you, right? Attention to the thing that you can't stop thinking about. I mean, if you keep feeling drawn to encourage people, maybe that's not random. Like if you feel like you've been called to mentor or to teach, to serve, create, to lead or help, maybe God is showing you something. Like literally, what if the thing you're most afraid to do is the very thing you were created to do? Think about that for a moment. Now, I'm gonna tell you why Isaiah's answer matters here. All right. Well to start, Isaiah doesn't ask questions first. He doesn't say, Well, JC, where are you sending me? How hard is it gonna be? How long will it take? What if the people don't listen? I mean, he literally says, Here am I, send me. Man, that kind of surrender is rare. Right? Because most of us, we want conditions, we want guarantees. We want to know the outcome, but real faith says, even if I do not know where this road leads, I trust the one leading me. Okay. And some of you are waiting for a sign. But maybe the sign already happened. Maybe that restless feeling is the sign. Maybe the burden is the sign. Maybe the repeated thought that you cannot escape is the sign. You don't need one more confirmation. You need courage. There are moments in life where your future changes because you finally stop saying what if and start saying, Here am I. This week I want you to write down one area of your life where you know God's been calling you. And then answer these three questions. What am I afraid of? What would happen if I said yes? And what is one small step I can take this week? All right, don't overcomplicate it. Just take one step. Because one step of obedience, that can change everything. All right. And right now, some of you might be feeling exhausted because you're fighting a battle between what is comfortable and what is calling you. Comfort says stay where you are, play it safe. You know, comfort keeps you small. Calling says there's more. Trust me. Calling stretches you. And yes, calling is uncomfortable, but there's nothing more painful than spending your entire life wondering what would have happened if you had trusted God. Stop asking, Am I good enough? Start asking, is God enough? Because if the answer is yes, and it is, then you don't have to carry the pressure of being perfect. You just have to be willing. And if you stop now, if you keep hiding, if you keep letting fear make your decisions, then one day you're gonna find yourself standing in front of the life that you were meant to live and realize that you never stepped into it. Not because God didn't call you, but because you were waiting for certainty instead of choosing faith. Don't let fear write your story. Right? Imagine what happens when one person finally says yes. One yes can change a family, it can change a marriage, it can change your ministry. One yes can change a generation, right? Isaiah said yes, and his words still impact people thousands of years later. Man, what if your yes is bigger than you realize? What if the courage that you chose today becomes a testimony somebody else needs tomorrow? Now, to my grandson Isaiah, if you ever listen to this someday, I want you to know something. There are going to be moments in your life when you are just scared to take that next step. Moments when you feel too small, too young, too uncertain, or maybe too unprepared. And when those moments come, I want you to remember that God has never been limited by the weakness of the people that He calls. He uses people who are willing. You don't have to know every answer, you don't have to have everything figured out, you don't have to be fearless, you just have to keep your heart open enough to say, Lord, here am I. Send me. And buddy, when you say yes, God will do more through your life than you could ever imagine. Love Jaji. Well, today we learn that calling begins with seeing God clearly. We learn that fear does not disqualify you. We learned that you don't have to feel ready to obey. And we learn that God's not looking for perfection, he's looking for availability. So this week, stop running from the thing that God's been putting on your heart. Pray about it, write it down, take one step, and maybe, just maybe, this will be the week that you stop saying someday and start saying, Here am I. Send me. Until next time, Coach Dombrowski out. I'll be praying for you.