Daily Devotional

“In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the H train of His robe filled the temple” (Isaiah 6:1). 

Have you ever had to take bad news to someone? If so, you might begin to relate to Isaiah’s struggle when God told him to take a message of reproof and warning to Judah. 

Isaiah, an upright young man from a royal family, had been chosen by God to carry out this unpleasant task. It was a discouraging mission; the people who were to receive the message were stubborn and unbelieving. They were proud and idolatrous and didn’t care about righteousness. 

It all seemed so hopeless, and Isaiah felt totally inadequate. He was tempted to just give up and leave the people to their idols. But then some- thing happened; the Lord sent him a vision that gave him courage and strength that lasted his entire life! 

What could give a person that much courage? Isaiah said, “I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up.” In this brilliant scene, Isaiah gazed upon the divine and saw seraphim worshiping the Lord and pro- claiming His holiness so loudly that the building was shaken! 

While in vision, Isaiah felt intensely unworthy and unqualified and cried out, “Woe is me, for I am undone! Because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts” (Isaiah 6:5). 

In response, an angel came to him with a live coal from the altar, touched Isaiah’s mouth, and told him, “Your iniquity is taken away, and your sin purged” (verse 6). Cleansed from his guilt, the young man eagerly embraced his daunting assignment. 

Focused on ourselves, so many things can seem impossible. But if we turn our eyes upward to the King on His throne and allow Him to purge our sin, then we can receive His strength for any task He gives us. 

Our Lord and King, help me to keep my focus on You, the Source of all strength and courage!