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Are We Listening?
After my 6 children had grown, married, and were living elsewhere, I rented a room in the home of a friend.
We shared her large kitchen, but due to different schedules, seldom had meals together. Though we cleaned up from our meals separately, we caught up on our daily news while I washed my dishes. If my friend was in the living room at the time, she would sometimes call, “I can’t hear you when the water’s running.” It happened so frequently that my friend made up a little song and sang out, “I can’t hear you when the water ‘s running” every time it applied. It was sung by us both. Fact was, with the water running, words were usually very hard to hear.
Isn’t it a huge blessing that God hears us when we call out to Him? No sound is preventing Him from hearing us when we call to Him in sincerity.
God is near and He listens and hears us.
However, our sin can put a distance between us worse by far than the sound of running water. It can build up a thick wall of sin, so to speak, between us. That wall becomes a separation between God and man.
Man could not span it or bring it down. That took God sending His Son, Jesus, to come to earth and die for mankind and bring down our personal wall of sin.
If we receive Christ as our Savior, repent, and ask God to forgive us, we are near to God.
Some, however, remain distanced far from God, separated by their sin. It is our choice and some choose tragically because they listen to the voice of the devil instead of the beautiful voice of God’s Holy Spirit.
Isaiah 55:6-12 NKJV
Seek the Lord while He may be found,
Call upon Him while He is near.
In these first two lines of this passage, we are told to seek God while He may be found.
We know that there will be a time when time has run out and Jesus returns and it is too late to repent.
We are told to use our time wisely.
There is no better thing a person can do in this life than to repent and find forgiveness through accepting Jesus as our Savior, and confessing our sins to God through Jesus.
We are also told here to call upon God while He is near.
We know the Holy Spirit is wooing us to God, calling us in, touching our hearts. When we turn away and refuse to listen, we harden our hearts. Over time, we aren’t listening to God’s Voice at all. He will seem far away because we have pushed Him away for so long.
Things have been put in the way of our seeking God.
At first, we might tell ourselves that it is only a small sin, or that everyone is doing the same thing. Then, we might convince ourselves that we did things ourselves. We found our idols. Then, we believed that making an impressive living, earning more money, going on that vacation, or getting that car were all things we not only needed but deserved. We impressed others or tried to do so, and that became increasingly important to us. More idols were worshipped.
Whatever the excuse, time marched by and we were without God —and without hope. We listened to the voices of the world, but not to the voice of God.
The water of life’s activities is turned on “full” and we aren’t listening to the most important voice of all…the voice of God Himself.
The passage of Isaiah chapter 55 continues:
7 Let the [a]wicked forsake his way,
And the unrighteous man his thoughts;
Let him return to the Lord,
And He will have mercy on him;
And to our God,
For He will abundantly pardon.
If we haven’t received Jesus as our Savior, we are counted among the wicked. As such we are forsaking the way of God. We are unrighteous. The thoughts of our minds and hearts are unrighteous. We are unholy before our Holy God.
Yet, we can return to the Lord, ask forgiveness, and embrace living a godly life. God will forgive us when we receive Christ, or recommit to Christ, and turn from our sins to obey and follow God.
God will have mercy.
He will pour out His Grace upon us and pardon our sins abundantly, as He showers His overwhelming Love upon us.
He is a powerful, holy God Who has high and holy thoughts. Aren’t you grateful, as I am, that God’s thoughts and ways are better than our thoughts and plans. So many times, when I leave my plans and hopes in God’s Hands, He makes them far, far more beautiful than I ever could have. So many times, He has saved me from disaster had my choice been the one I followed.
When I purposely followed God’s choice for me, it was ALWAYS the very best choice.
Verses 8-9 of our passage says this very thing.
8 “For My thoughts are not your thoughts,
Nor are your ways My ways,” says the Lord.
9 “For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
So are My ways higher than your ways,
And My thoughts than your thoughts.
As we continue in verse 11, we see that His Word will not be void. In other words, His Word and Way will accomplish good things and prosper.
11 So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth;
It shall not return to Me [b]void,
But it shall accomplish what I please,
And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.
Listen to God.
As a forgiven believer in Jesus Christ, saved by God’s Grace, your sins are forgiven, and the wall of sin you built that blocked God out has been torn down. You have turned off the running water of distraction, and you can hear His Voice clearly. You will go forth in joy and peace. His Word tells us in the last verse we study here in verse 12.
12 “For you shall go out with joy,
And be led out with peace;
The mountains and the hills
Shall break forth into singing before you,
And all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.
There will be so much joy, even in the midst of struggle and difficulty, because you have God.
The things in our lives will seem to be so much more wonderful than before. Your eyes will be opened to the beauty around you as never before. Your mountains, even those mountains of difficulties you once faced, will now seem to be a reason to rejoice, as you realize that you face all things with God beside you.
So turn off the water and listen to God calling you to Him.
I’m so glad I did.