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“Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither His ear heavy, that it cannot hear: but your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid His face from you” (Isaiah 59:1-2).
Earlier this week I had the chance to speak to one of our neighbors whose wife has been sick and in the hospital. I was able to give him a small gift, and to speak to him about the Lord. However, he was not interested in knowing how to be saved, and said that “if there is a God, why does He not do something about all the suffering in this world?” He went on to tell me how he had always been a good man and had never treated anyone wrongly. He felt that he was quite fit for God’s presence.
Our verses today point out that the Lord is listening and is able to save, but that we must first of all acknowledge our sins. Many people today are measuring themselves by others around them, and then thinking that they are “good people.” But if we are honest before God, we must admit that “the heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked” (Jeremiah 17:9). Our sins have indeed separated us from God, but the blood of Christ can wash away those sins.
This does not mean that the Lord is suddenly going to take away all the suffering in this world, but it does mean that we can have peace with God about our sins, and have a happy relationship with Him.
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