Isaiah 59:1-2 "Indeed, the Lord's hand is not too short
to save, and His ear is not too deaf to hear. But your iniquities have built
barriers between you and your God, and your sins have made Him hide His face
from you so that He does not listen."
If you ever feel God is far from you, this truth says, He is
always close enough to help and hear you...but it is our sin that causes a
"wall" to be built up between us and God. WE, not God, distance
ourselves from Him because we choose to sin. How often do we say things like,
“I don’t feel God anymore” or “I feel as if God has left me”? These are just a few
lies Satan wants you and I to believe so that we walk away from God and
continue living in sin. The truth is God’s position never changes! He will never leave you nor forsake you. It is
our unconfessed sin that separates us from God.
Now imagine with me building a brick wall. Each brick
represents our sins. Brick by brick, sin by sin, we build this wall between us
and God. Some walls are neatly assembled with care and others are built in a
rush and look horrible. However, a wall is a wall no matter how neat it looks. Just
as sin is sin no matter if one sin seems more offensive than another. Suddenly we
realize there is a massive wall separating us from God and what is our first
reaction? We blame God. Your sin, my sin, our sin causes God to hide His face
from us and it is quite easy for Him to do so because of our wall of sins!
One thing we must do today is ask His Holy Spirit to reveal
any sin that is causing a wall to be built up between us and Him. He is on the
other side waiting for us to call out to Him for help! I envision Jesus behind
our wall of sins, kneeling down, weeping over our behavior and praying to
Father God on our behalf. He doesn’t want to keep hiding His face from you. He
wants to break down the barrier so that we are living face to face with our
Savior. Repentance is the “dynamite” God uses to break down our wall. What are
you waiting for? Simply say His name, “Jesus”! He will do the rest, if you are
truly sorry for your sins.
Honestly, this should be done on a daily basis so that we do
not build up a barrier between us and our Savior. Sometimes there are
unintentional sins, such as not following Jesus’ command to go to all nations or having an unforgiving heart. These are just
a few examples and yes I know no one is perfect but we must commit our lives to
being a living sacrifice holy and
pleasing to the Lord. I don’t know about you but my desire is to see His
face beaming with delight, not hiding with disappointment!
This week take the time to allow His Holy Spirit to search
your heart. In order for this to happen you must have alone time with your
sweet Jesus. Allow Him to speak to you about any sin that is causing a barrier
to be built up. Then be honest with God because He already knows who is on the
other side. Until we meet again, remember His position never changes!
