But first, what is the fiscal cliff? Going over the fiscal cliff would be the result of the enactment of a number of tax increases and spending cuts that are set to come into effect at the beginning of 2013 should no alternate legislation be passed by the end of the year. Portions of this package of fiscal changes were enacted as a compromise in response to the government’s precarious approach to the debt ceiling in 2011. So while some would say the fiscal cliff has nothing to do directly with our country’s deficit, there is a causal connection between our government’s general desire to perpetuate the use of extreme debt at the public level, and the measures we may see enacted by the end of this month.

So why should we care about going over some fiscal cliff? How bad could the effect of these measures really be? Well, some analysts, as well as the Congressional Budget Office, are forecasting a pretty significant recession at the beginning of 2013 should these measures go into effect. Hence the daily updates in the news regarding Congress and the President’s efforts to nail down some alternate plan to avoid the cliff. In just the last few days we’ve seen some major players in the government infrastructure putting their folks on notice that sequestration is coming very soon (look that one up for your homework). And on a personal level, going over the cliff will mean an immediate increase in taxes that will come out of your paycheck each pay period, as well as a reduction of the benefits you would otherwise see on your tax return had the cliff been avoided.

Now that we’ve got the basics out of the way, here’s what I really want to talk about over the next few days:

What sort of expectations should we have regarding America’s debt and fiscal policies and practices, and of the negotiation styles used by our representatives in getting to policy establishment?

It may sound like I’m coming a little late to the party when I say our government has fallen far and fast from the application of certain Biblical principles when setting fiscal policy (yup, I said that – I do believe our government in the not too distant past actually valued and applied Biblical principles as they set public policy), but I don’t think it’s time to consider this concept passé. I refuse to slip into some passive state of acceptance about the direction we are heading as a nation when it comes to our spending. As a follower of Jesus and a child of God, I believe the ways of the Kingdom work in every area of life – even in the fiscal matters of the United States in 2012.

In Luke 11:2, Jesus tells us to pray that God’s name be kept holy in the earth and that His Kingdom would come soon, on earth as it is in Heaven. Last time I checked, the Kingdom doesn’t run on debt and its constituents do not ruthlessly negotiate with one another in order to see God’s will come to pass. Prayer and reliance on God’s principles are what make the Kingdom go ‘round.

It’s not too late, folks. With prayer and declaration (in prayer, over circumstances and to our representatives) and in following Kingdom principles in our own fiscal and debt policies at the family level, I believe we actually can effect a change in how our nation spends. This isn’t a partisan issue – there are no parties in God’s Kingdom. This is an obedience issue and I think it’s time we discuss it from this perspective.

This month Doug and I will celebrate our seventh wedding anniversary. While that may not seem like a lot of time to become an expert on anything, we’ve made a concentrated number of mistakes that, I am sure, have more than doubled our “on the ground” knowledge of what it takes to make a marriage work. We’ve also had some great marriage mentors and successfully married friends with us for the whole of our journey thus far. They’ve helped us to navigate rough waters and to celebrate our sunny moments. What this time has definitely impressed upon us is this: the Hollywood version of marriage perfection does not exist. In fact, many days, marriage proves to be the hardest work you will do all year.

If you want to make your marriage better – or keep a currently thriving marriage on track – you’re going to have to go after it. And I’m not talking about just making sure you’ve got a couple date nights on the calendar each month. When a marriage isn’t functioning properly a date night will only serve as an additional opportunity to throw stones at each other (ahem, I just might be talking from experience!). Going after it involves work that will sometimes have you asking “Can I really do this?” Here’s what we’ve learned about going after it these first seven years . . .

GOING AFTER IT entails knowing what the Word of God says about keeping a marriage running smoothly and growing and then doing what the Word says. Knowing the Word but failing to do the Word will actually hurt a marriage in the long run due to the resulting guilt and feelings of failure that surface when you don’t do what you know you should. Just knowing the Word won’t get the job done. But if you do what it tells you, you will be jaw-droppingly amazed. Just a little respect, a string of kind words or some forgiveness (gasp!) will go a long way. But only if you move those things from your thoughts and into action.

GOING AFTER IT means telling your emotions to take a back seat on a regular basis. Contrary to what some couples emulate or share when it’s testimony time, no one has a perfect, always “in love” marriage. We’re all human and we all have days where we are selfish, angry, spent or tempted. Add to that being in a situation where things don’t seem to be working as they should and you’ve got the perfect recipe for feeling sad, hopeless, disappointed, bitter and/or vengeful in a marriage. Whenever you’re working on an area of life that you find difficult, you should expect that emotions are going to kick up to distract you. Ignore them! If you’re doing what the Word of God tells you to do, the positive emotions will come later. They really will. If you want to see growth and increase in your marriage, you are going to have to plant seeds of truth and pull up the weeds of emotion that threaten your harvest. Only then will you see the fruit that yields those pleasant and warm feelings you’re going for.

GOING AFTER IT means that you don’t hide behind your preferences. Not a good communicator? Get over it. Your marriage requires healthy communication from you. Not good at expressing feelings? Get in touch with your “inner emotive” because it’s likely something your partner needs. Kind of short in the memory department when it comes to important dates or types of gifts someone prefers? Become a list writer. Have an independent streak a mile wide with a pinch of introvert thrown in? It’ll be challenging, but you’re just going to have to shift. The motto is “Whatever it Takes!” Whatever it takes to make the marriage work – within the bounds of the Word of God. You need to be prepared to fight for this thing, whatever the cost. Even if that means changing something about yourself. Sure, your spouse loves you and promises to stay committed to you just as you are. But so does Jesus, and he still asks you to shift every single day. Some of those shifts need to be made for the sake of your marriage.

GOING AFTER IT entails accepting that you will be a different person on the other side of the adjustments marriage requires of you. At the end of the day, what it comes down to is whether you are willing to sacrifice yourself – your habits, your preferences, your expectations – in order to see God do something amazing and supernatural in your marriage. As long as you hang on to yourself, you will have places of struggle in the relationship. But when you release yourself to the process with God, you’ll find that all of this “going after it” business will truly pay off.  Then date night can go back to being more of a celebration of each other and less of a repeat of those other, not so fun discussions!

“Trust in the LORD with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take. Don’t be impressed with your own wisdom. Instead, fear the LORD and turn away from evil.” – Proverbs 3:5-7 (NLT)

If I’m being really honest, I’d have to say this verse of scripture challenges me. Trust the Lord with all my heart while not depending on my own understanding? This seems a little counter-intuitive given the world we live in. Our culture is supportive of analyzing a situation from a thousand angles before committing to a strategy, and trust is only given when we’ve checked a good number of references and can guarantee someone’s track record is legitimate. But in this Psalm David is telling us to simply trust God with our whole heart and to give up the detective work. Like I said . . . challenging.

To trust is to belief in the reliability, truth, ability, or strength of someone or something. Trust is a choice that requires us to take a chance on someone, believing they will be reliable, truthful and fully able to accomplish what they said they could accomplish before they actually do anything. Trust comes before we step out with someone. Trust is an investment. It’s a risk.

When we trust God with our whole heart, we take him at his word. We believe he will do what he says he will do – that he’s good, that he’s capable, that he’s willing. When we trust God, we let go of our self-preservation instincts and we transfer that responsibility over to God. We believe, by faith, that God will care for us even better than we could care for ourselves.

To place our trust wholly in God we must abandon our natural inclination to figure things out to get to understanding. God doesn’t want us depending on our own understanding. The Bible tells us in a number of places that true understanding resides with God, and it’s not something we work to earn from him. When we trust God – his Word, his commands, his principles, his character – our trust actually allows God to give us an understanding. He can reveal to us how the situation at hand will be best resolved. We don’t have to grind out an analytical understanding. What God reveals will actually be a more accurate and complete understanding than we can figure out on our own.

This Psalm also warns us to keep from being impressed with our own wisdom. The wisdom that comes from God is fully superior to anything we could come up with on our own. David’s son, Solomon, must have heard his dad singing this song a few times. When he had an opportunity to ask God for anything he wanted, Solomon asked the Lord to grant him wisdom (1 Kings 3:3-9). When we trust God, seeking him in all we do, he will show us the right path to take in any situation. He can help us to avoid pitfalls and unexpected surprises that could take us out or slow us down.

Make a choice today to trust the Lord with all your heart. In every decision you make today, defer to him. Don’t rely on your own understanding. Reach out to him and ask for his wisdom. He won’t disappoint.

“He has given me a new song to sing, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see what he has done and be amazed. They will put their trust in the LORD.” – Psalm 40:3 (NLT)

Over the years I’ve had the chance to watch a number of people put their trust in the Lord. When I think back to those moments, I’m reminded of how relatively little I did to “convince” anyone to make this choice. This tells me that trusting God isn’t the result of a thought process. It’s a decision made at a much deeper level.

I think back to when I made my own decision for Christ. There were scores of people who helped to get me to that moment, and not a single one of them tried to convince me into the kingdom. That, despite the fact that I’m an intellectual at heart. I love a good debate! For me it was a slowly developing confidence over years that came as a result of simply noticing how, time and time again, people around me who already trusted Jesus seemed to have small victory after small victory. I was moved by the consistency of faith in God. Even in troubled times, those who put their trust in him seemed to get through with less collateral damage. They seemed to still have a song to sing at the end of the day.

I’ve come to realize that having a song of praise to sing to God in the good times, and in the bad, makes me a subtle but effective witness to those around me who are trying to decide whether they, too, will put their trust in the Lord. Psalm 40 says God gives us a new song of praise to sing to God. I believe that’s only partially for our own benefit. The song he gives us to sing is also a testimony that others hear and consider as they make their own choice about whether to trust God or not.

At the end of the day, each person’s decision to trust God or not is personal. Romans 1:20 tells us that the earth testifies to the existence of God and his character. But it’s the testimony of the saints – the songs that we sing to our God – that reveal an experience of him. It’s the testimony of the experience that convinces others to step out and have their own experience with him. So that one day, they can have a similar song to sing about what God did for them when they stepped out in trust.

“Trust in the LORD and do good. Then you will live safely in the land and prosper. Take delight in the LORD, and he will give you your heart’s desires. Commit everything you do to the LORD. Trust him, and he will help you.” – Psalm 37:3-5 (NLT)

Let’s be honest. Most of us can read a scripture like this one and immediately agree in principle with what we’ve read – trusting the Lord is the smart choice. But check in with us five minutes later and we’ve already gone back to “life as normal.” We’re back in crisis mode, solving problems left and right, setting up contingency plans for the latest decisions to be made and disappointments to be averted. We can give mental ascent to the idea of trusting God, but for some reason it’s terribly hard to shut down the grind and simply trust him. Trusting God is a choice. And sometimes it’s a very tough one to make.

So let’s stop right now and zero in on three things Psalm 37:3-5 tells us to do when we find ourselves inclined to “mind grind” a problem. Instead of fretting and figuring when you feel a sense of worry coming on, do these things instead:

Trust in the Lord and then DO Good. Saying you trust God in your situation is one thing. Acting in accordance with that statement can be quite another. But it’s essential if you’re going to make progress in seeing the Lord come through for you. Start telling your body that it’s going to act in accordance with your decision to trust God. So, if you’ve decided you’re going to trust the Lord for your financial provision, maybe today is the day you stop checking your budget and your bank balance twenty times. Check it once, pray over it, speak the truth to it and then get on with your day! Maybe you’re trusting God for a spouse. Stop letting your desire to be married drive your social calendar. Your desire to be married doesn’t mean you need to go out every night, staying out until all the prospects have been considered. If you trust God, act like it. Command your body to do things in line with the trust you’ve declared. Stop allowing your body to be commanded by fear.

Take DELIGHT in the Lord. Make this a habit starting right now: Whenever you have an anxious idea pop into your head, say out loud – “I won’t think that. I’m so thankful right now that God has done ______ for me.” Fill in the blank. Setting our minds on the things God has done can drive away worry and anxiety about what we’re still waiting on him to do. Our hope gets lifted and our confidence in God’s ability surges. Be a person who focuses on gratitude. Make mental lists of all the great and amazing things the Lord has done. Be intentional about seeing the goodness of God in the land of the living. When we’re habitually finding things to delight in the Lord about, the next thing to delight about will be just around the corner. Jesus told us worry doesn’t do a single helpful thing for us. Take him at his word, and start trusting that he will make a way for you each and every time you face a challenge.

Commit EVERYTHING to God. The good and the bad. When something great happens, thank him for it. When something bad happens, give it to him and ask him to fix it. God considers it his job to work out worrisome things for you. He doesn’t get irritated when you can’t figure something out on your own. He doesn’t mind that you need help. He’s actually sitting patiently waiting for you to ask for what you need. He delights to help you! 1 Peter 5:7 tells us to cast all our cares on him because he cares for us. Cares – not just as an emotion, but as an action verb! God gets to work caring for us in an active way whenever we trust him enough to commit the situation to him. Like the Message version of 1 Thessalonians 5:24 says, “The One who called you is completely dependable. If he said it, he’ll do it!”

So get out there today and actively trust God! Do something that demonstrates your trust in God instead of turning on the mind grind. Delight in him as you remember how he has come through for you in the past. Commit every worry and every problem that needs solving to him. And get ready to see him come through for you.

“I will say of the Lord, He is my Refuge and my Fortress, my God; on Him I lean and rely, and in Him I [confidently] trust!” – Psalm 91:2 (AMP)

Psalm 91 is an awesome chapter of scripture. In it we’re told of all the amazing things God will do to keep us safe. Verse 2 says, “I will say of the Lord, He is my Refuge and my Fortress, my God; on Him I lean and rely, and in Him I [confidently] trust!” I will say of the Lord. What we are willing to declare about God has implications. When we are willing to declare the righteousness and the goodness of God, trusting him comes naturally. Our words reveal what we believe a person is capable of.

The Amplified version of verse 3 of Psalm 91 begins, “For then He will . . .” As we declare what we believe about God and our intention to confidently trust in him, something happens to our future. As we commit to what we believe through our spoken words, God is “released” to act for us. Our declaration to trust the Lord positions us. We become perfectly positioned to see what the Lord will do for us. God is ready to do it all along – that’s just how he is. But there is something about our willingness to agree with who he is and what he is like that actually allows that reality of him to come towards us. Our ability to trust and our declaration of that trust can change our future. A perfect example of this is Romans 10:9 – believing in our hearts and confessing with our mouths saves us. Reality changed forever.

As we begin to speak in line with what the Word says about God, we have a unique opportunity to create a loop in our own lives that can allow trust to arise. We speak the Word of God and we hear the truth of what we are saying. It goes down into our hearts as a seed of faith and we meditate on it with our minds. We are encouraged to dig deeper in the Word and to pray to find more truth about God and what he is like. We speak what is being revealed to us. We hear what we are speaking and faith comes. And the cycle continues. As it continues, our ability to trust is bolstered. Faith in God makes it possible for us to trust him. This “Romans 10:17 loop’ is essential to our ability to build trust in God.

What we say about God – his character, his ability, his nature – will have an effect on our ability to trust him. Our ability to trust him will have an effect on our ability to receive from him. But it all flows from what we believe about him. What will you believe about him today? What will you declare as you place your trust in him?

“If you are faithful in little things, you will be faithful in large ones. But if you are dishonest in little things, you won’t be honest with greater responsibilities. And if you are untrustworthy about worldly wealth, who will trust you with the true riches of heaven? And if you are not faithful with other people’s things, why should you be trusted with things of your own?” – Luke 16:10-12 (NLT)

Be faithful with what you have and then you will be trusted with more. That’s the word for today.

There are some things God gives without measure. His Love. His Holy Spirit. But for the most part, he’s given us a Kingdom where we get out of it what we put into it. Sure, the multiplier for what we get out may be astronomical at times – God is a multiplier – but we still have to be willing to put in. Putting in is an investment. It’s a risk. But if we believe God is who is says he is and that he can do what he says he can do, that sort of faith will allow us to continually invest. Faith hedges our risk.

Sometimes I think we get offended that the Kingdom works this way. We’ve gotten so used to the “unconditional love” part of the message that we forget we are called to produce fruit. God has promised he will give us everything we need to produce abundant fruit – inspiration, power, protection – but we still have to make a personal decision to step out and do what we’re hearing him tell us to do. He requires us to handle our affairs in accordance with his principles, and the result should be abundant fruit. He’s looking for it.

Our fruitfulness is contingent on our ability to trust Jesus. This passage of scripture in Luke calls all believers to a high standard of fruitfulness. It allows a weight to rest on us, calling us to a higher place of trustworthiness. Without Jesus, this standard would undoubtedly be too high. But with Jesus, it’s possible. God never intended for us to be able to produce abundant fruit without Jesus. He always meant for Jesus to be the mechanism for overflow in our lives. As we trust Jesus to abide with us through his Spirit and to empower us and work through us, we can be confident he will make us trustworthy in everything we put our hands to. As we stand in him, we can be capable of anything God calls us to.

Be faithful with what you have today. Ask Jesus how he would handle what is currently in your sphere of influence. What would he say? How would he care for the things that have been placed in your possession? What would he risk personally to take care of those who are positioned around you? In placing more trust in Jesus we will find ourselves naturally becoming more trustworthy. And as we become more trustworthy, we will be trusted with more in this world.

“And He said to them, Go into all the world and preach and publish openly the good news (the Gospel) to every creature [of the whole human race].” – Mark 16:15 (AMP)

After his death and resurrection, Jesus issued a commission to the disciples commanding them to go into all the earth to preach the Gospel – the “Good News.” But what exactly is this Good News? This question has been on my mind a lot lately as I’ve watched the discussion proceed on social media regarding comments that Chick-fil-A’s CEO made regarding same sex marriage. It would seem many have found nothing “good” about the news Christians are bringing to the table. But the core message of Christianity is inherently good, as is the God of Christianity, so how is it that our message isn’t getting across in the way we’ve intended?

The Good News is generally understood to be the story of Jesus and how his ultimate sacrifice and our faith in him have reconciled us to God forever and freed us from sin. While the implications of Jesus’ actions and our faith are tremendous, the story itself is quite simple. You could technically present the Good News to someone in less than two minutes flat. But somehow we’ve found a way to expand the story to include other things that can detract from its clarity, power and effectiveness. We’ve added details to the core message and in so doing, we’re running the risk of hearing Jesus say, “That’s not what I told you to do at all.” Here are a few “additions” to the Gospel that have the potential to compromise our message, especially on the social media scene:

Prioritizing the Culture of Christianity. The church of the West has become expert at creating atmospheres and hosting events that draw people to the Christian “lifestyle.” We indoctrinate people into a certain culture we feel best represents the way the Bible tells us to live. This may include highlighting certain rules or guidelines for the Christian life, or even providing the perfect sound bite to respond to the day’s most recent moral or ethical dilemma. The problem here is that God never told us to create a culture (or a social club) to respond to the pain and suffering of the world; he told us to spread the word about Jesus. Having a culture is fine, but when that culture is elevated above the truth and the Gospel itself, there will always be a problem. Culture can be a shadow of what God is really like. Culture has the potential to rob us of freedom and put God in a box. Culture can make us legalistic. The Good News, on the other hand, is freeing. Putting our faith in Jesus allows us to let go of the false comforts of culture and allows culture to simply be a context. Culture shouldn’t be the thing that identifies us as Christians; our profession of Jesus as our Lord and Savior and the power He brings to our lives should drive the identifiable fruit of a Christian life.

Arguing the Rules of Christianity. Any time we proclaim what we believe or the “rules” of Christianity without carrying the Spirit of Jesus, we’ve lost the plot. Faith in Jesus is what empowers a person to believe the basic tenets of the Christian faith. Without foundational faith in Christ, it is impossible for a person to truly understand or reason out why certain behaviors are good or bad. There are all sorts of daily happenings that can fall into a “gray area” if we don’t have the mind of Christ and the conviction of the Holy Spirit to keep us on track. This is why naked theology upsets so many people. Things are out of context. Holiness only makes sense to a person who has been made holy by the blood of Jesus. Only a renewed mind can comprehend why certain behaviors are detestable. If we want people to start acknowledging right and wrong in a manner consistent with the Bible, we have to start preaching the Gospel and letting the “rules” of Christianity take a back seat. We have to keep the main thing the main thing – faith in Jesus Christ preceding all. Only then will we truly see a transformation of choices and opinions. Trying to get to that kind of transformation without faith and the Holy Spirit breeds legalism, and legalism leads to death.

Heralding the Perks of Christianity. Jesus said he came to give us life and to give it to us in abundance (John 10:10). Psalm 27:13 says that David expected to see the goodness of God while he was in the land of the living. There are certain perks to the Christian life and we shouldn’t be ashamed of them. God wants us to enjoy the blessings he bestows upon us. But when we make these things the impetus for belief or we try to “sell” Christianity as a way of gaining favor in life, we’re walking a very fine line.  People can be enamored with the results of a Christian life but never be truly converted. Acts 8 tells the story of Simon, the sorcerer. He saw the great power that came upon people when they were filled with the Holy Spirit, and he offered the apostles money to teach him how to wield this power. But Peter rebuked Simon for trying to obtain the grace of God by unholy methods. You cannot separate the “perks” of God from the God who grants them. When we place the fruit of a Christian life above the Root of the Christian life, we’re putting people at a disadvantage. It sounds a bit crazy, but we might actually be setting people up for the practice of idolatry if we aren’t careful. We need to share Jesus and his story, untainted. This doesn’t mean we can’t discuss the perks of our faith as a result of our belief in Jesus, but we should certainly be mindful of how we present our stories of provision and increase to those who do not yet believe. Lest we become a stumbling block for others, including those we friend and follow on social media.

“And Moses said to the Lord, ‘If Your Presence does not go with me, do not carry us up from here! For by what shall it be known that I and Your people have found favor in Your sight? Is it not in Your going with us so that we are distinguished, I and Your people, from all the other people upon the face of the earth?’” – Exodus 33:15-17 (AMP)

I am moved by the passion of Moses. He learned something after all those years in the wilderness, climbing mountains to meet face to face with the Lord himself. He learned if the Lord isn’t in it, it’s not worth doing. He came to value the Presence of God above absolutely everything else. I want to have that same passion.

Every morning I have a decision to make about how I will live out my day. Will I be the kind of person who gets out of bed, pours the coffee and turns on the auto pilot? Will I bound out of bed with my eyes and mind fully fixed on a self-made to do list, unhappy with the day ending until I’ve ticked every box? Or will I be the kind of person who wakes up seeking God and his heart, committed to staying in step with his heartbeat all day long? To choose the latter isn’t easy, but it’s possible. And it’s worth it.

To choose God’s Presence above all else means we might have to ignore anxiety; we might have to tell worry to take a hike. To choose his Presence means there may be things we would really like to see happen today, but being okay with them not happening. It may mean more time spent with people who aren’t our “favorites” and a bit more serving all around. It may even mean more waiting, especially on God himself. I’ve found that, many times, God moves slower than me. Do you find that, too? If we want his Presence above all else we may have to change our way of going about things; we may have to reconsider whether we go at all.

David was taken with the Presence of God much like Moses. His songs to the Lord reveal a heart that couldn’t content itself if God wasn’t with him. In Psalm 84:4 David exalts, “Blessed (happy, fortunate, to be envied) are those who dwell in Your house and Your presence; they will be singing Your praises all the day long.” And in Psalm 55:11 he says, “Cast me not away from Your presence and take not Your Holy Spirit from me.” There is something to be said about living in oppressive, lonely situations such as the ones Moses and David found themselves in. It seems that there they found the Presence of God in a way that compelled them to seek God out and keep him close all of the days of their lives. They wouldn’t go anywhere without him. Even if it meant staying in those oppressive and lonely situations a little longer than they thought they could stand. Even if it meant not going . . . yet.

Each morning when I get up, my prayer echoes those of Moses and of David. “If your Presence doesn’t go with me, don’t let me move one step further. I only want to go with You. Without You, my movements are meaningless. Without You, my words are useless. Without You, I have no breath. I’ll only go if You go with me.” What will your prayer be this morning?

“Then I heard the Lord asking, ‘Whom should I send as a messenger to this people? Who will go for us?’ I said, ‘Here I am. Send me.’” – Isaiah 6:8 (NLT)

God is constantly looking for a person who will go for him. There are things God cannot accomplish on this earth without the cooperation of people. That’s mind blowing! God is all knowing, ever present and all powerful, and yet he has designed life in such a way that he “requires” a person to go for him. God doesn’t force people or manipulate them. He influences and compels, for sure, but we have to make the decision. We have to be willing to say, “Here I am. Send me.”

Isaiah was a prophet. The desire and drive to speak the Word of God was programmed into his DNA before he was born. But he still had to be willing to work with what God had built into him. Even though most of us may not be prophets, we have the same opportunity. Will we be what God created us to be? Will we say yes to the calling he’s placed on our lives? Will we be willing to go when he wants to sends us?

Sometimes when I read this verse I imagine Jesus himself saying the words of Isaiah to the Father. “Here I am. Send me.” It’s easy to get wrapped up in the complexity of the trinity and not realize Jesus had to willingly choose to be the Sacrifice and the Redeemer. As a man on earth he had to process the thought – I will go to the cross and suffer pain and separation from the Father in order to reconcile man to God. And then he had to make the decision to walk that thought out. He had to go where God sent him. Willingly.

Going isn’t always easy, but going can sometimes be wasted if we do it with the wrong intentions or with misplaced faith. We need to know the truth about what we’re going for. Who we’re going for. When we know we’re going because God called us to go and that he goes with us, we can say, “Here I am. Send me.”