God Seeks Volunteers
Aug 19th, 2025 | Ashley Hendrickson
“I don’t think I’m called to go overseas.” It’s a phrase we hear often—and one that can quietly keep us on the sidelines of God’s mission. But is a supernatural calling always required? In this article, we explore the case of the prophet Isaiah to demonstrate how availability often comes before assignment.
Isaiah’s Example
In Isaiah 6, the prophet Isaiah has a radical encounter with God. In a vision of Yahweh’s holiness, he is completely exposed in his sin and becomes keenly aware of the futility and brokenness in the world around him. He feels lost and powerless. But, he is immediately met with God’s personal, healing, and justifying grace. Verse 8 continues, “And [Isaiah] heard the voice of the Lord saying, ‘Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?’ Then [Isaiah] said, ‘Here I am! Send me.’”
At this point, Isaiah had not been commanded to do anything. He had not seen a dream, heard a voice, or received any word spoken over him that God would give him a mission to Israel. He also didn’t know when, where, what, or how long. So what motivated him to say “Here I am, send me”?
Isaiah was motivated not by a command but by a clear view of the need around him and a deep, personal understanding of God’s grace. His response was not marked by obligation or certainty of the future, but by freedom, willingness, and desire.
From Willingness to Mission
Imagine asking Isaiah, “Why did you say that you would go for the Lord? How did you know you were called to be a prophet?” It is pretty easy to see why that is the wrong set of questions to ask. We imagine him responding, “I didn’t know what God had in store, and he hadn’t commanded me anything. He just showed me his heart and I wanted to serve!.. And then he gave me a mission!”
God clarified Isaiah’s mission only after he volunteered. If we wait for a personalized summons before considering going, we may never respond at all. God doesn’t force anyone into his mission. He asks, ‘Who will go?’ and waits for the heart that says, ‘Here I am.’
Of course, in His wise providence, the Lord uses us in His plan of redemption and invites us into His work in specific ways. But it is only an open, transformed, willing heart that can identify and receive such an invitation. And at the end of the day, God’s purpose of grace goes forward with or without us. For “It depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy” (Rom. 9:16).
The greatest motivation for effective, dedicated service to the Lord is not a special sense of calling or blessing over a ministry vision. It is the powerful realization of what God has done for us in Jesus Christ. Besides, one’s personal and subjective sense of confidence is not meant to bear the weight of all the challenges of life on the field. We need to be anchored in God Himself.
Practical Discernment and Prayer
Instead of asking ourselves, “Am I called?”, we can foster a heart that is one with the Lord and deeply in tune with his love for us and others. Then, we can wait upon him with patience and seek out practical wisdom as to how we can best steward our skills, passions, and life circumstances for his purposes (for more on that, see this article!).
In the end, wisdom may lead us to pursue service overseas or to receive an opportunity placed in front of us, or we may take on the responsibility of serving in our local context. What God asks of all of us is that we offer ourselves as an expression of the sacrificial love that we have received. He will certainly use us, even if it looks different than we expected (it certainly was for Isaiah!), for “He works all things together for good” (Romans 8:28).
Here’s a practical exercise to work through if you feel the Lord moving in your heart in response to this article:
Ask:
Do I desire to go? Is my heart aligned with God’s heart for the unreached and oppressed?
Am I willing to go? Have I laid aside my ambitions, and am I actively looking for opportunities to join the Lord in his work?
Am I free to go? Do my life circumstances free me up to serve in a place of health and without neglecting the responsibilities I have that cannot be passed on, like those to my marriage or family?
Pray:
“Lord, help me to desire to go. Help me to see the immense need around me and how you meet it in every way. Align my heart with yours and give me a vision of how I can walk with you and be a catalyst for your transformation in the world. Help me be willing to go, actively laying aside my own ambitions and misplaced desires for worldly comfort, instead making a practice of taking opportunities to pursue what is truly eternal. Help me even be free to go. Remove negative barriers in my life that would keep me from serving you. Most of all, Jesus, captivate me with the work you have done in my own life, so that by beholding you, I can become like you and pour that love out to others.
You have said to pray earnestly to you to send workers out into your harvest. I cannot honestly pray this prayer if I have not first offered myself. So here I am, send me! I volunteer myself if your redemptive power will go before me. Now I will wait for your reply and rest in your presence, where I do and will dwell forever. Amen.”
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