My human says there’s a moment in the Bible where a man named Isaiah saw the Lord high and lifted up. The place was filled with smoke, angels were flying around shouting “Holy, Holy, Holy,” and the whole room shook like thunder rolling across the sky.
Now that’ll get your attention.
And the first thing Isaiah did wasn’t brag, argue, or puff up his chest.
No sir.
He looked at the holiness of God… and then he looked at himself.
And he said:
“Woe is me! I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips…” – Isaiah 6:5
Now I’m just a dog, but I know something about coming clean.
Sometimes I sneak into the kitchen.
Sometimes I sniff around the trash can.
Sometimes… well… let’s just say I investigate things dogs probably shouldn’t investigate.
And when my human calls my name in that tone… I know the jig is up.
My ears go down.
My tail lowers to half-mast.
And I give the look that says… “Yep, it was me.”
That’s confession.
But here’s the thing most folks miss.
Confession in the Bible isn’t the end of the story.
It’s the beginning.
After Isaiah confessed his brokenness, one of the angels took a burning coal from the altar and touched his lips.
Cleaned him up.
Forgiven.
Restored.
And then the Lord asked a question that still echoes across heaven and earth:
“Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?”
Notice something.
God didn’t ask that question before the confession.
He asked it after the cleansing.
And Isaiah—freshly forgiven, freshly humbled, freshly aware of God’s mercy—raised his hand and said:
“Here am I. Send me!”
That’s the journey.
Confession
Cleansing
Mission
My human says a lot of folks want the mission without the confession.
They want to do big things for God without first letting God deal with their hearts.
But heaven doesn’t work that way.
God doesn’t send perfect people.
He sends forgiven people.
People who know they’ve been cleansed by grace.
People who remember where they came from.
People who say, “Lord, you’ve done so much for me… wherever you want me to go, I’ll go.”
Now, I know I need to go apologize for something involving a shoe and a suspicious amount of chew marks.
But before I go, let this old lazy dog leave you with some truth:
Confession isn’t where your story with God ends.
It’s where your mission begins.
When grace cleans your heart…
God just might send your feet.
Keep the Faith… Carpe Diem
