What do you give?
Isaiah records the burdens against Babylon, Edom, and Arabia. Nations that had ignored or rejected the Lord. Even Judah itself was not exempt from God's correction.
Can you imagine the weight Isaiah carried? These were not messages he delivered with delight. He writes: "Therefore my loins are filled with pain; Pangs have taken hold of me, like the pangs of a woman in labor. I was distressed when I heard it; I was dismayed when I saw it. My heart wavered, fearfulness frightened me; The night for which I longed He turned into fear for me." Isaiah 21:3-4
Yet despite the cost, Isaiah remained faithful: "Oh, my threshing and the grain of my floor! That which I have heard from the Lord of hosts, The God of Israel, I have declared to you." Isaiah 21:10
Throughout Isaiah's ministry, we do not see a heart of contempt but a heart that reflects the Lord. A desire for repentance, reconciliation, and restoration. Isaiah first received from God, then faithfully gave what God entrusted to him.
The same is true for us.
What do you have to give? We cannot give what we have not first received. Ministry does not begin with activity; it begins at the threshing floor. It begins in the presence of the Lord.
When He ministers to us, we are then able to minister to others with His heart rather than our own.
What are you giving? And have you first received it from Him?
-To Know Jesus. To Live on Mission.