God's work is no stroll through the garden.

Anybody engaged in ministry will encounter an uphill journey.

And unless you're prepared for the climb, it might be tempting to give up.

Today on Insight for Living, Chuck Swindall teaches from Isaiah

chapter 6, where the prophet received his calling. Immediately, Isaiah sensed his inadequacy. He

wanted to quit. But whether you're engaged in full-time missions or another profession,

we can all glean insight on both the challenge and the reward

of following God's call. Chuck titled his message, Strengthening Your Grip on Missions.

Isaiah felt lonely. What God did in his life was not to push him as a member of the military forces of Judah overseas.

He simply saw fit to snuff from his life a friend named Uzziah.

This young Israeli discovered that his friend had died.

Uzziah's death was as untimely as Lincoln's in 1865. If ever they needed a king that walked

with God, they needed him then, and he died. The living Bible seems to capture the significance of that death by putting the

first sentence, closing at the words, well, let me read it from the living. The year King

Uzziah died, I saw the Lord, exclamation point. Links them together.

I think that's the way it was.

It was the year when the world seemed to come to a stop.

It was a year when the cave fell in on him.

Brings up the first of five principles I want to share with you from these verses.

God uses circumstances to make us aware

of his presence. For some of you, it has been the loss of a friend. For others, the loss of a mate,

death or divorce. For others, it has been the loss of a job or the news of a crippling illness that is creeping onto your life, or that of your loved one.

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