To Encourage You

Isaiah 59:1 “Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save, or his ear dull, that it cannot hear.”

Such beautiful assurance is found in the words of Isaiah 59:1.   It is a description of God’s abilities put in human terms.  You see, God is a spirit, and although the words above talk about God’s “hand” and His “ear,” God doesn’t have hands and ears in the sense that we do.  Yet, the one who made the hand can do anything our hands can do, and the one who made the ear can certainly hear (Psalm 94:9).  But it is in the contrast with hands and ears that are defective in some way that we are taught of God’s greatness in this particular verse.

So often, when we think of the members of our body, our minds can go quickly to the limitations of those members.  People have eyes, for example, but so often we need glasses because of some problem with those eyes.  As for ears, how many have hearing aids?  And though we have hands, there is a great range in the abilities and strength of those hands. In the verse above the words “shortened” and “dull” point to defects or limitations in hands and ears.  The point is that with God, there is absolutely no limitation as to what He can do, and there is no limitation in what He is aware of.  He is perfect in every way, including the abilities to “do” and to “hear.”  Therefore, when we pray, we should never have the slightest doubt that God has heard us.  His hearing is not defective. He doesn’t catch some of what we say, or even most of what we say. He doesn’t occasionally hear us, but then occasionally miss what we said.  He hears us perfectly all the time.

Not only that, but He knows what we say – every word at every moment – even before we say it (Psalm 139:4). In fact, Psalm 139 makes it very clear that God is so aware of everything about us at every moment of every day that we couldn’t hide anything from Him, no matter how hard we might try.  He knows us better that we do, and He knows everything about us, for even the hairs of our head are numbered (Luke 12:7). 

But God is not only aware of everything about us, He is able to help us in any situation we find ourselves in. He never comes up short regarding His ability to help us. He’s never at a loss of ideas or abilities concerning our needs.  He is always aware and always willing and fully capable to help. 

However, that doesn’t mean He always does listen or does help, at least in the sense that we think He should.  God has ordained that sin and unbelief will constrain His actions in our lives.  For example, although Jesus could do anything, be it calm the sea, heal the lame, cast out demons, or raise the dead, there were some situations in which He would not act because of the sinful unbelief of the people to whom He went.  In fact, in His hometown of Nazareth the Bible says that “He could do no mighty work there, except that he laid his hands on a few sick people and healed them. And he marveled because of their unbelief” (Mark 6:5).  You see, while Jesus could do anything, He couldn’t do much there because of their great unbelief. As the founder of the Methodist denomination, John Wesley, commented on this passage in his writings in the 1700’s “He could do no miracle there – Not consistently with his wisdom and goodness. It being inconsistent with his wisdom to work them there, where it could not promote his great end; and with his goodness, seeing He well knew his countrymen would reject whatever evidence could be given them. And therefore, to have given them more evidence, would only have increased their damnation.”  Indeed, God can and will do anything that truly brings Him glory. Therefore, it behooves each and every one of us to glorify Him in every way if we truly would see His power at work in and through our lives. Sin will not allow this, including the sin of unbelief.

And then regarding the hearing, James tells us that there are times in our prayer life that “(We) ask and do not receive, because (we) ask wrongly, to spend it on (our) passions” (James 4:3).  And then in the next verse after Isaiah 59:1 above it says this: “but your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden His face from you so that He does not hear.”  In other words, it is possible to live in such a way so as to shut off our communication with the God Who hears perfectly, because He will close His ears to the rebel who lives as if God doesn’t exist, and then complains because it seems that God doesn’t answer prayer. 

God will hear the voice of the child Who sincerely loves Him, as well as the voice of the wayward one who comes to the end of himself, such as did the prodigal son, and sincerely turns from his sin and to the Lord.  It’s just as God told Solomon with these words “If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land (2 Chronicles 7:14).” 

Yes, God can do anything, and He can hear anything, especially our prayers, but His actions and hearing are always consistent with His holiness, His purposes, and His glory.  May God help us to seek these same things in our relationship with Him, for surely we serve a God whose hand is never short, and whose ear is never dull towards those who love Him. Indeed, “the eyes (and ears) of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward Him (2 Chronicles 16:9).”

And who in their right mind wouldn’t want this for their life more than anything?