In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord, high and exalted, seated on a throne; and the train of his robe filled the temple. Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, ‘Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?’

And I said, ‘Here am I. Send me!’” (Isaiah 6:1, 8)

The world in which we live today is filled with “drama and trauma.” We are faced with trials and testing, chaos and crisis. How are we to be godly leaders amid such tumult? Isaiah 6 is a passage of Scripture you are likely familiar with, and it is one we can look to today as we are called to lead in the times we are facing. In many ways, the world in which the prophet Isaiah lived mirrors our own. Isaiah faced leadership crisis, moral deterioration, significant resistance, and personal struggle when he was called by God to be a prophet to the people. Despite this scene, he responded to God’s call: “Here am I. Send me” (Isaiah 6:8). We can compare these trials to those surrounding us today in the 21st century and how, in the middle of them, God calls us to answer with our availability to lead anyway.

LEADERSHIP CRISIS

Uzziah became king of Judah when he was 16 years old and was in leadership for 52 years. He was the only king Isaiah had known and was one of the most prosperous kings in Judah’s history. “He sought God during the days of Zechariah, who instructed him in the fear of God. As long as he sought the Lord, God gave him success” (2 Chronicles 26:5).

Uzziah’s rule started strong, and as he acknowledged the Lord, he was given great success by God. He was a great leader—until he wasn’t. “But after Uzziah became powerful, his pride led to his downfall. He was unfaithful to the Lord his God” (2 Chronicles 26:16).

King Uzziah was perhaps the most powerful and successful person in the world, but he allowed pride to enter his heart. He soon forgot that it was God who elevated him to this position and blessed his kingdom. His pride led to disobedience and ultimately to his death, which shook Judah to its foundational core.

The 21st century has been marked by a wave of leadership failures in nearly every sphere of society around the globe. From Australia to Africa, from the U.S. to Europe, from the political corridors of national capitals to the tech hubs of Silicon Valley, leaders have lost their way morally, relationally, financially and in terms of their integrity. This global failure of leadership has not spared any institution, including the church.

In the face of a leadership crisis, godly leaders should be encouraged by these words: “A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you” (Psalm 91:7). All who follow the Lord are called to leadership in some capacity, and make no mistake: leadership is tough. It is under demonic attack day and night. But, we can boldly say, “Lord, make me a leader, anyway!” With God’s help, we can be leaders of godly strength and integrity.

MORAL DETERIORATION

Isaiah also witnessed a moral crisis in Judah. The people were struggling spiritually as God’s law was neglected, injustice was rampant, oppression was normalized, prayer was peripheral, and idolatry and immorality were prevalent. Judah’s sin would be its downfall. Isaiah was called to speak on God’s behalf in an environment in which the moral framework of the nation was collapsing all around him.

Like Isaiah’s world, the world in which we live and lead is in steep moral decline. Societies across the globe have embraced perversion, pornography and pride instead of embracing God’s righteousness. We are living in a morally confused and spiritually depressed world. Yet, God is calling us in the middle of it all. Paul prophesied of this day to the young leader Timothy: “Don’t be naive. There are difficult times ahead. As the end approaches, people are going to be self-absorbed, money-hungry, self-promoting, stuck-up, profane, contemptuous of parents, crude, coarse, dog-eatdog, unbending, slanderers, impulsively wild, savage, cynical, treacherous, ruthless, bloated windbags, addicted to lust, and allergic to God” (2 Timothy 3:1-4, MSG).

Recorded in Matthew 24, when He was asked about the last days, Jesus shared that the world would be filled with deception, wars, rumours of war, nation against nation, kingdom against kingdom, famines, pestilences, natural disasters, persecution, betrayal and spiritual coldness—an environment in which only the committed will endure. But then He said, “And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come” (Matthew 24:14).

We are living in times of high stress and deep challenges. But, although we did not choose when we would be born, God sovereignly saw to it that we would be here for such a time as this. He equips and enables us to lead amid the drama and trauma of our day.

SIGNIFICANT RESISTANCE

In addition to facing a leadership crisis and moral deterioration, Isaiah encountered significant resistance. After Isaiah accepted God’s call, the Lord told him to go preach to the people and that they would not listen. The more he preached to them, the harder their hearts would become (Isaiah 6:9). The drama and trauma in Judah during Isaiah’s ministry meant that his message would not always be accepted. He would encounter consistent resistance during his leadership.

We are entering a new era of evangelism focused on reaching everyone on earth. In 2033, the church will celebrate the 2,000-year anniversary of Christ’s crucifixion, resurrection, ascension and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost. Multiple Great Commission efforts worldwide are focused on reaching every person on earth with the gospel within the next decade. I believe we are positioned at the greatest moment in history to see this realized. As we enter this new era of evangelism, focused on reaching everyone on earth, we must prepare for significant spiritual warfare and resistance in our leadership. The eternal stakes are high; the battle will be severe. God calls us to lead in moments that will not be easy. There will be great resistance—the problems will be big, the attacks will be significant, and the challenges overwhelming at times. But may we say, “Here am I. Send me anyway!”

PERSONAL STRUGGLE

Lastly, we see that Isaiah faced his own personal struggle when called by God. When he saw God’s glory and the smoke of God’s power fill the house, Isaiah was undone and cried, “Woe to me … I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty” (Isaiah 6:5). Isaiah may have already been a prophet at this time, but he had a personal struggle and needed God’s cleansing. Isaiah would experience supernatural cleansing as one of the seraphim took a live coal from the altar of heaven and purged his lips on earth. He was cleansed of his sin and used by God despite his weaknesses.

People throughout Scripture were called despite their weaknesses and struggles. Abraham was too old; Jeremiah was too young; Elijah was suicidal; Joseph had been abused; Job went bankrupt; Moses stuttered; Gideon had low self-esteem; Samson had a problem with women; Rahab was a prostitute; Hosea had an immoral wife; Peter lacked moral courage under pressure; and Paul persecuted the church and lived with a thorn in the flesh. All were imperfect people whom God used despite their weaknesses as they responded to His voice.

God specializes in using imperfect people. This is good news and means He can use you and me if we answer His call and allow Him to cleanse us.

Yes, leadership is challenging. But as we look to God despite the escalation of leadership failure, moral deterioration, significant resistance, and the revelation of our weaknesses, may we humbly answer His call. “Here am I, Lord. Send me anyway!”

Dr. Billy Willson is the global chair of Empowered21 (E21), recognized as the world’s largest Spirit-empowered relational network. E21 brings together ministry leaders, scholars, evangelists and next-generation voices who collectively represent over 650 million Christians worldwide. Wilson is also the fourth president of Oral Roberts University (ORU) in Tulsa, Okla., and chair of the Pentecostal World Fellowship. He is a keynote speaker at PAOC’s General Conference at the Niagara Falls Convention Centre in Niagara Falls, Ont., May 13-15, 2024.