What Am I Going To Do?

“Mom, we have to turn in our Chromebooks at school on Monday, and we still have a whole week left!”

“What are we going TO DO?”

The last two words my daughter spoke were emphasized with dramatic hand motions and a look of sheer confusion on her face.  She honestly could not contemplate how her teacher would be able to teach the class for the next five days.  What could be done? What use was there in even going to school?

After reassuring her that she was NOT going to die, I affirmed for her the possibility of life outside the box of technology.  It’s called pen and paper, Jesicah.  And yes, generations of people have been educated on such a simple concept.  I love my daughter to pieces, but her grasp on the realities of life outside of her nine-year old bubble is lacking at times.

I thought back over the conversation I had with her earlier in the day regarding the Great Depression.  Once again, technology reigned.  Her knowledge of what happened in America from 1929-1939 was confined to a thirty second clip of a recent Steak ‘n Shake commercial regarding the creation of “Happy Hour”.  Once Happy Hour was over, however, they went back to being depressed.

It was the Great Depression, remember?

With my most professorial-sounding voice, I proceeded to inform Jesi of the Stock Market Crash of 1929 and the events that followed plaguing both rich and poor for ten whole years.  I could tell that most of the information sailed right over her head, but I prayed a few nuggets of truth would sink in.  I completed the historical lesson with the mind-boggling facts that both of her great-grandmother’s actually lived through this period of time, and how what they learned had been passed down to subsequent generations; none of which involved computers or Ipads or smartphones.

There was another, much further back in history, that struggled with the same “what am I going to do?” questions.  His name happened to be Isaiah, one of the most well-known prophets of the Old Testament.  This lament occurred after the death of a well-beloved King of Israel, King Uzziah.  His 52 year reign had recently ended in a tragic death of leprosy; a fate that I can only imagine grieved Isaiah.

Where was God?  Why was this great and wise king struck down so suddenly?

What are we going TO DO, Lord?

Isaiah’s questions did not return unanswered.

“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.  Above him were two seraphim, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. And they were calling to one another:

“Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory.”

The sounds of the angels voices caused the doorposts and the thresholds of the temple to shake with violent force and fill with smoke.  Isaiah fell prostrate on the floor, instantly realizing how woefully unclean and unworthy he was to be in the presence of the Most Holy God.

“I am ruined” He cried.  “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.”

One of the angels then leaned down and touched Isaiah’s lips with a burning coal from the altar.  “See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.”

The coals were merely a foreshadowing of the redemption from sin that Jesus Christ would provide with his death on the cross, hundreds of years later.

What was Isaiah going to do, you wonder?

“Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?

And I said, “Here I am.  Send me!”

Isaiah’s immediate response was one of obedience.  Here I am.  I have nothing to offer.  I am but a mere sinner, but I am here.  I am willing.  I will go.

What are you going to do with the opportunities you have been given?

Will you wallow in the “what ifs” or “what could have been” of life, or will you go?

For me, the answer is simple.  “Here I am.  Send ME Lord!”