God, You want me NAKED to do what?
Then the Lord said, “As my servant Isaiah has walked naked and barefoot for three years as a sign and a portent against Egypt and Cush, so shall the king of Assyria lead away the Egyptian captives and the Cushite exiles, both the young and the old, naked and barefoot, with buttocks uncovered, the nakedness of Egypt.”
Isaiah 20:3-4 (ESV)
One day, on the way home from school, my kids could tell I was stressed about finishing a seminary paper. My son asked if I was mad that God called me to go back to school. I responded, “No. At least He didn’t call me to prophesy naked for three years like Isaiah.”
God often calls us to do things that make us uncomfortable. Things that, from the outside, seem weird, out of touch, and frankly crazy. A newish-to-Bible-study mom with two young kids going back to school to deeply study God’s Word with no end goal in sight? It felt like absolute madness!
Isaiah’s assignment was even stranger. A mature gentleman walking the streets and shouting prophecy in the nude would certainly get attention. But God would have a greater purpose than just shock value. When God calls us to step outside of our comfort zone and act boldly (and bizarrely) in faith, our job is to obey and leave the rest to the Lord. Just as Isaiah allowed himself (mind and body) to be an instrument for the Lord, so should we.
Lord, prepare us to be bold in our faith and obedience. Amen.
Leslie L. Bowers
