When God DOES Listen

My children have selective hearing. Their ears are wired only for certain sounds. I can tell them to hang up their coats five hundred thousand times at 95 decibels without them hearing me. On the flip side, I can whisper about candy while I hide in my closet…and they come running in from the neighbor’s house!

Ok, well maybe I’m exaggerating…a bit…but you parents and teachers knows what I mean.

Apparently God has selective hearing, too. Last Friday’s blog from Isaiah 58 talked about when God chose not to pay attention to Israel’s fasting and prayers. He told them that their religion was all a show, that they were oppressing their workers, and that they fought and quarreled. Ouch! It seems that God can choose to ignore our pleas when we hang on to pride and refuse to repent of known sins.

That blog brought some heart-wrenching admission of my own sins. The holiness of God revealed just how ugly my deepest parts can be. It wasn’t pretty. I had to fall on my face, speak my sins out loud, and humbly ask God to forgive me.

Fortunately for us stubborn humans, God is gracious and merciful. He really does want to hear us and help us. He told Israel EXACTLY how to get His attention. He even listed the actions that would indicate their true repentance…

 "Is not this the fast that I choose:

to loose the bonds of wickedness,

to undo the straps of the yoke,

to let the oppressed go free,

and to break every yoke? 

"Is it not to share your bread with the hungry

and bring the homeless poor into your house;

when you see the naked, to cover him,

 and not to hide yourself from your own flesh?"

--Isaiah 58:6-7 ESV

All God wants from us is true repentance. For repentance removes pride and replaces it with humility.

And humility attracts God's grace like candy attracts my kids.

“Do you think the Scriptures have no meaning? They say that God is passionate that the spirit he has placed within us should be faithful to him. And he gives grace generously. As the Scriptures say, 'God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.' So humble yourselves before God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come close to God, and God will come close to you. Wash your hands, you sinners; purify your hearts, for your loyalty is divided between God and the world. Let there be tears for what you have done. Let there be sorrow and deep grief. Let there be sadness instead of laughter, and gloom instead of joy.  Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up in honor. “ –James 4:5-10 NLT

Read that last sentence again.

“Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up in honor.”

God said the same thing to the Israelites thousands of years ago:

Then shall your light break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall spring up speedily; 

your righteousness shall go before you; 

the glory of the LORD shall be your rear guard. 

Then you shall call, and the LORD will answer;

you shall cry, and he will say, 'Here I am.'

If you take away the yoke from your midst, the pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness, 

if you pour yourself out for the hungry and satisfy the desire of the afflicted, 

then shall your light rise in the darkness and your gloom be as the noonday. 

And the LORD will guide you continually and satisfy your desire in scorched places

and make your bones strong;

and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail.

--Isaiah 58:8-11 ESV

When we (God’s people) truly live in a state of repentance, He doesn’t just HEAR us. He doesn’t just acknowledge our prayer and fasting. He goes way beyond what we can even imagine!!!

The God who hears us gives us His own righteousness.

He guards us with His glory.

His never leaves us.

He guides us and satisfies us.

He makes us strong.

God gives us living water to make us THRIVE!!

The pain of sacrificing our pride is worth the return. The humiliation of acknowledging our ugliest parts is rewarded by God Himself. No shameful sin is worth clinging to. Let His cleansing Spirit wash out your dirtiest parts. Let Him release His healing over your scars.

There is no need to hide in shame. Nothing we have done can ever be too much for God to forgive. He loves each one of us. His love is so deep that it defies human understanding.

God hears.

God answers.

God loves.