In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord, high and exalted, seated on a throne; and the train of his robe filled the temple.
- Isaiah 6:1

Yesterday we saw Isaiah’s courageous, eager volunteering. He raised his hand and his voice and offered himself fully to God. If that passage were portrayed in a Hollywood blockbuster, the music would be swelling and our emotions would ride the wave all the way up to the top. What a moment!

What compels Isaiah to be a part of God’s mission is a vision of the beauty and wonder of the Lord. That’s what we see in today’s passage, which happens in the moments just before Isaiah’s heroic volunteerism. Isaiah meets God and knows God. He has a sense of the vastness and goodness of God. God is worthy to be served.

At this point in Isaiah’s story – Isaiah 6 – Isaiah has already been speaking for the Lord. He worked as a prophet. The moment we see today, though, marks a shift in the depth of Isaiah’s calling and the seriousness of Isaiah’s message.

Isaiah is going to be one of the most significant prophets who ever lived. And he’s going to experience some of the most challenges too. In order for him to persevere in the face of those challenges, he will need a deeper encounter with the Lord than he’s ever had.

This pattern appears throughout Scripture (and in our own lives). People who are following and serving God need to have deeper and deeper encounters with him as they move deeper and deeper into their calling and purpose.

For those of you who have already been volunteering, where have you met God along the way? Where might all of us need a deeper encounter with God in order to move more deeply into our calling and purpose?