Micah 3:4 Then they will cry to the Lord, but he will not answer them; he will hide his face from them at that time, because they have made their deeds evil. Thus says the Lord concerning the prophets who lead my people astray, who cry “Peace” when they have something to eat, but declare war against him who puts nothing into their mouths. Therefore it shall be night to you, without vision, and darkness to you, without divination. The sun shall go down on the prophets, and the day shall be black over them; the seers shall be disgraced, and the diviners put to shame; they shall all cover their lips, for there is no answer from God.
Deuteronomy 31:17-18 Then my anger will be kindled against them in that day, and I will forsake them and hide my face from them, and they will be devoured. And many evils and troubles will come upon them, so that they will say in that day, ‘Have not these evils come upon us because our God is not among us?’ And I will surely hide my face in that day because of all the evil that they have done, because they have turned to other gods.
Deuteronomy 32:19-20 “The LORD saw it and spurned them, because of the provocation of his sons and his daughters. And he said, ‘I will hide my face from them; I will see what their end will be, for they are a perverse generation, children in whom is no faithfulness.
Isaiah 59:1-15 Behold, the LORD’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save, or his ear dull, that it cannot hear; 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.
How sad, terrible, and overwhelming to have God hide His face from His people? How big is the separation when there is no answer from God? When there is sin in our lives and in our nations and we have known what it means to seek and follower after God but have willfully chosen paths away from Him can we expect and answer from Him? The answer to this is yes and no. When we come to our senses like the prodigal son He is there with expectant arms wide open. It is in the time between our unfaithfulness and willing disobedience, and a drought of God’s Word in our life when we will find that it is not so much Him speaking into our lives but rather we are not listening. The worst part of this is that we choose to not listen and then wonder why, when troubles find their way into our lives, God does not seem to be anywhere near us. God orchestrates and/or allows troubles to come on individuals and nations. He has used these times to draw them back to Him, recognizes their sin, repents, and turns away from that which was appalling to obedience to Him. As a nation, we find ourselves in a time now that prudent minds would seek God with a humble heart. But this isn’t what we do, is it? We look to local, state, and federal governments to answer our questions and fix the troubles we are facing. Could it be that God is taking away (hopefully temporarily) that which we hold so dear in this world? I do know this unless we turn to Him with humbleness and repentant hearts our nation will go from worse to worse. Seek Him, dive deep into His Word, and open the ears to your hearts, minds, and souls.
