"In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple."

"Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me.
And he said, Go, and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not.
Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and convert, and be healed.
Then said I, Lord, how long? And he answered, Until the cities be wasted without inhabitant, and the houses without man, and the land be utterly desolate,"

-Isaiah 6:1, 8-11

This is a story that I have read countless times; but, as He has done many times before, God took a verse that I have read over and over and shined a new light on it for me and let me see it in a different way:

God was looking for somebody that He could use, so Isaiah volunteered. The Lord told him what his mission was: he was to be His messenger, warning the Israelites of the judgment to come.

Jesus gave us a similar command in Mark 16:15 when He said,

"...Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature."

Some, like Isaiah, may ask "How Long?" But the answer that God gave to Isaiah is the same answer that He gives to us: "...Until the cities be wasted without inhabitant, and the houses without man, and the land be utterly desolate," (Verse 11).

We've got to preach the gospel, not until people quit listening, but until there is nobody left to tell.