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.   Isaiah 59:1-2 HCSB

I live in an area that does not have good cell reception. We used to have a problem with calls dropping or being unable to make or receive calls on our cell phones. It’s also very frustrating to be in the middle of an important call on your cell phone and have the call drop because you drive into an area where there is bad reception.

Many years ago before cell phones were popular I found myself stranded about four hours from home on a lonely stretch of interstate. I thank God that He gave me the wisdom and discernment not to get into the car with the first guy that stopped, but then He sent me a road crew and their foreman took me to a station with a tow truck about two miles back. I made it out of that safely but I vowed to get a cell phone as soon as I got home.

We live in a time where we have constant communication ability at our fingertips. We have cellphones, computers, and tablets. We seldom find ourselves in a situation where we are unable to communicate with others. We can call, text, email,  and message through social media.

In our scripture passage today Isaiah is warning God’s chosen people, the Israelites, that they have gotten themselves into a situation where they have cut off their communication with God. They have created bad reception in their line of communication with God.

Now when my cell phone calls used to drop I blamed my carrier.

But, Isaiah begins by telling them that it’s not that God’s arms aren’t long enough to reach them or strong enough to save them, but it is because of their sin that He is not reaching out to them. He tells them that it’s not that he is too deaf to hear them, but that He has hidden His face from them so He cannot hear them. Their sins have built barriers between them and God.

After David had committed adultery with Bathsheba and had her husband murdered, he was sorrowful because he realized that he had sinned not against Bathsheba and her husband, but against God. In Psalm 51, he begs God to cleanse him from his sin. In verses 10-11, He asks God to create a clean heart within him and renew a steadfast spirit within him. He begs God not to banish him from His presence or take His Holy Spirit from him. David was a king living in a palace in control of many people, but he realized that his life was useless without God in it.

We are told in Ephesians 4:30 not to grieve God’s Holy Spirit. 1 Thessalonians 5:19 tells us not to quench the Spirit. Our sin breaks God’s heart and eventually, it break ours too. Psalm 51:17 says that a sacrifice pleasing to God is a broken spirit. It says that God will not despise a broken and humbled heart.

If your bad reception has been caused by your sin and you feel that God is not hearing your prayers, know that you can have perfect reception. 1 John 1:9 tells us that if we will confess our sins that God will forgive us and cleanse us of all unrighteousness.

Often times we don’t confess our sin to God because we just don’t want to let it go. We grow comfortable in our sin. You must ask yourself is your sin worth not receiving God’s blessings? Is it worth cutting off your connection to God? Is it worth dropping the call you just put into God for help? Your sin creates bad reception. It blocks communication between you and God. You have to decide if you want to let go of your sin in order to restore your relationship with God.

You also need to understand that you are not all alone when you are in your sin, God will hear you if you cry out to confess your sin and ask Him to fill you with His Holy Spirit and remove that sin far from you. He is faithful to forgive us and help us to resist temptation.

We all suffer temptation. We are told in 1 Corinthians 10:13 that no temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. The good news is that God is faithful and will not allow us to be tempted beyond our ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, so that we can endure it.

The flip side to this is if we don’t confess our sins and repent, God will give us over to them (Romans 1:24). Don’t let this happen. I beg of you to choose wisely.

Have a great day!