Flawed yet Favoured

Isaiah 6:1-8 (The Message)
by Eugene H. Peterson
Holy, Holy, Holy!
1-8 In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Master sitting on a throne—high, exalted!—and the train of his robes filled the Temple. Angel-seraphs hovered above him, each with six wings. With two wings they covered their faces, with two their feet, and with two they flew. And they called back and forth one to the other,

Holy, Holy, Holy is God-of-the-Angel-Armies.
His bright glory fills the whole earth.The foundations trembled at the sound of the angel voices, and then the whole house filled with smoke. I said,

"Doom! It's Doomsday!
I'm as good as dead!Every word I've ever spoken is tainted—
blasphemous even!
And the people I live with talk the same way,
using words that corrupt and desecrate.
And here I've looked God in the face!
The King! God-of-the-Angel-Armies!
"Then one of the angel-seraphs flew to me.
He held a live coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar.
He touched my mouth with the coal and said,

"Look. This coal has touched your lips.
Gone your guilt,
your sins wiped out."
And then I heard the voice of the Master:
"Whom shall I send?
Who will go for us?"
I spoke up,
"I'll go.
Send me!"

The ringing of the phone this morning heralded a friend returning from a battle the worse for wear.

She had spoken words in rage--ugly words designed to humiliate and cut down. Wit had been employed as a weapon.

Now, in the cold light of reason, the fire of anger had burned out, leaving embers of shame. The humiliation was hers alone.

But in the womb, a Father had watched her grow. He gave the gift of wit and words.

A Foe looked on also--he saw the gift and sought to destroy, to defeat and defame this daughter of Eve.

The Father's way is not to repent of his gifts, woven into the fabric of his children. Wondrously he chooses to use the weak and flawed--to pour himself into such earthy vessels and glorify them with his Presence. He en-trusts and trusts--even when trust is broken.

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The area of strongest enemy attack in our lives is often on the area of our intended identity in the Kingdom. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy (John 10:10). Susan Stewart wrote a blog post entitled It's All About Perspective on August 23rd about how a simple sentence changed her perspective and undid the destruction of the enemy in an area of her life. She was released to be all that God intended her to be--someone who has the right words to speak at the right moment--an inspirer of others.

When I consider the area in which I've suffered temptation, attack and weakness, it is the heart. And yet my God given purpose was always to love and encourage--to care for others in a shepherding role.

My friend of this morning's conversation reclaimed her daughterhood and identity in Christ. A skirmish lost was merely a springboard to greater revelation and deeper consecration.

And then I heard the voice of the Master:"Whom shall I send?Who will go for us?"I spoke up, "I'll go. Send me!" Isaiah 6:8

Isaiah 42:3 (New International Version)
3 A bruised reed he will not break,
and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out.
In faithfulness he will bring forth justice;