“Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.”

Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. With it he touched my mouth and said, “See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.”
- Isaiah 6:5-7

Isaiah realizes he’s in over his head when he comes face-to-face with God. He acknowledges his personal moral culpability (“I am a man of unclean lips”) and the moral shortcomings of his community (“I live among a people of unclean lips”). All of this comes to light as he sees the Lord.

Encountering the Lord makes us aware of the gaps in our lives.

Isaiah doesn’t have the power to close the gap himself. The only way the gap can be fixed is if God does something about it. Implicit in Isaiah’s cry is a call for transformation. And this sets him up for God’s big calling on his life.

Isaiah’s ministry will be marked by both humility and courage. His recognition of his brokenness and the grace he’s received becomes a gift not just for him but also for all Israel and everyone who will be a recipient of the word of the Lord through Isaiah. That includes us!

Spiritual leadership exposes gaps. When you volunteer yourself to serve God, you also discover ways in which you have yet to mature, yet to turn from sin, yet to fully love the people around you, yet to submit yourself to God’s will, and yet to lay down your life and your rights. Confronting these gaps can be terrifying. But what you do next is what matters most.

Isaiah acknowledges the gaps in his life and in his community. He owns up to them and doesn’t run away. He longs to have the gaps closed and he cries out to God. As God answers Isaiah’s heart-felt, humble cry, he experiences transformation.

What do you do when gaps show themselves in your life and leadership? How can you acknowledge them and call out for transformation today?