Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying:
“Who should I send? Who will go for Us?”
I said: “Here I am. Send me.” (Isaiah 6:8)
These are the words of God as spoken through the prophet Isaiah.
When people think of prophecy, many think of predictions of the future. These predictions are often confusing. They can be filled with images that are hard to imagine; dragons, and horsemen, statues that crumble, scrawny cows eating large healthy cows. But the bulk of Biblical prophecy is not foretelling; that is speaking into the future, but forthtelling; speaking against things that are wrong, speaking against social injustices contemporary to the time the prophecies were being spoken.
That means the office of prophet was not a glorious and fun position to hold. It meant that the prophet might just have to speak out against the kings and rulers of the time. It meant putting one’s life at risk but telling the king he or she was wrong. Many did pay with their lives for speaking the truth; God’s truth.
So God calls. “Who shall I send?”
And Isaiah answers. “Send me.”
A similar call has been issued recently. Not one of a prophetic nature but a call that places the health, even the life of the person being called at great risk. Still, a great many people have said, “Here I am. Send me.”
These include medical professionals, nurses, doctors, physician assistants, and administrative personnel. It includes hospital chaplains. It also includes law enforcement officers, paramedics, fire fighters, emergency medical technicians. These are front line workers going towards danger, placing themselves in the presence of people who are symptomatic of COVID-19. They are people who would rather be home, practicing social distancing in order to avoid contracting the virus but instead they stay true to their individual callings and place their lives at risk for the benefit and well-being of others.
But it also includes grocery store workers, janitors, sanitation workers, professional food-shoppers. And last but not least, it includes the women and men I have the privilege of calling my colleagues and friends, members of the armed forces. Those in this group who are closest to me are the Soldiers and Airmen of the Florida National Guard.
As I served as the chaplain for a group of these men and women I was amazed at how selfless they served. They worked side by side with the medical professionals, disaster relief workers, law enforcement officers, and a host of other people that were there, everyday, doing what they were called to do.
I was prepared to do a lot of counseling for anxiety and fear because of the close proximity they were to the virus. But once the mission kicked off, they all kicked in. The only anxious moments I observed was when one of their friends became symptomatic and had to be isolated. They feared for the well being of their colleagues.
I also saw some anxiety when the nurses lost a friend and colleague to COVID-19 and the law enforcement officers also lost a friend and colleague. They reflected on the loss, they discussed it briefly, we prayed, and then they went right back to work.
Each of them chose a vocation of service. But it wasn’t entirely their choosing, it was their calling. As God called them to serve in these various capacities, we need to keep them covered in prayer. Pray that the God who called them will also protect them and give their families a sense of His presence and His peace as their loved ones continue to risk their own lives and health for the well-being of others.
God asked, “Who shall I send?”
And they answered, “Here we are. Send us.”
