«But your iniquities have separated you from your God; and your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He will not hear» (Isaiah 59:2).
BEING SEPARATED from people we love is sad. Two cases come to my mind—one personal and one from the Bible. For example, I will never forget the day my mother and I went to leave my brother at the airport, knowing that from then on, we would not see him as frequently. How we cried! I imagine that Adam and Eve also wept when they had to leave God and their home in the Garden because of sin. Their feet, possibly trembling, walked toward the unknown, and their relationship with God changed from that time forward. They had to say goodbye to the scenery of Eden and a lifestyle that would never again be the same.
The truth is that there is no separation that does not cause a deep impact on the lives of people. However, among all separations, the one with the greatest impact is separation from God—having had a close relationship with Him and having allowed it to be lost.
Isaiah 59:2 speaks to us about the sad reality of the separation that is produced between God and His children because of sin: «But your iniquities have separated you from your God; and your sins have hidden His face from you. Separation in human relationships is, in most cases, a fact of life. In the case of the relationship with God, every separation is due to a decision on our part to distance ourselves from Him in order to live in sin.
We read in the Bible: «Come close to God and He will come close to you. Wash your hands, you sinners; purify your hearts, for your loyalty is divided between God and the world» (James 4:8, NLT). That is the message I want to bring you this morning: it is not necessary for a painful separation to exist between God and you. He asks you to seek Him, to draw near to Him, making the decision to love Him above everything. Choose between worldly interests or your relationship with God. If you choose Him, He will draw near to you.
Can you imagine for a moment that your prayers are not heard? That one day you seek Him and He hides His face from you? It sounds awfully sad, right? But it does not need to happen.