Isaiah 30: 18-20
18 Yet the Lord longs to be gracious to you; therefore he will rise up to show you compassion.
For the Lord is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for him!
19 People of Zion, who live in Jerusalem, you will weep no more. How gracious he will be when you cry for help! As soon as he hears, he will answer you. 20 Although the Lord gives you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, your teachers will be hidden no more; with your own eyes you will see them.
“Yet the Lord longs to be gracious to you” There it is in print. The Lord longs to be good to you. And yet we mess that up! We let things get in the way. Usually, we are what gets in the way. Do you block the things God wants to do for you?
Isaiah also says that God will be gracious to you when you cry for help. Do you cry out to God for help? Or do you think He is too busy with important things to listen to your little concerns. God cares about everything that concerns you. It says “As soon as he hears, he will answer you.” As soon as he hears! How can He hear if you don’t speak? You matter to Him. Matthew 10:29-30 (NIV) says 29 Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care. 30 And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Someone who knows how you were formed and the number of hairs on your head must care about you. You are His masterpiece.
Since we now know how much God cares about us, how will we live? Will we speak to Him about all of the things that are going on in our lives or will we only go to God as a last resort? Don’t you think it would be better to ask God what His will is for us than to make our decisions and then ask God to bless them after the fact? Some people have come to a place in their Spiritual Journey where they have conversations with God and He answers. I am one of those people and I am willing to admit it. Isaiah says He will answer you! Why would you be surprised? Does God speak to you? He does me. Most of the time, it is through my subconscious; I don’t know what to do and then all of a sudden, I have the answer. Once in a great while, I hear a clearly audible voice. I heard God last April in Honduras. I believe Isaiah! How about you?
One last thought. I try to use these words to encourage you. Sometimes, people think encouraging messages leave out the full truth of the Bible. I do not want you to think that. You will still see the bread of adversity and the water of affliction but they will not overwhelm you. God uses these things to refine you, not to harm you. Speak to Him. Ask for His favor. You are the apple of His eye and he wants to bless you. Why not let Him bless you today? Out of the overflow of those blessings, you can bless others. Thank you Lord!