The Lord’s Hand Is Not Shortened

“Behold, the LORD’S hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear: But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear.” Isaiah 59:1-2

Our unpleasant circumstances are never an evidence of God’s inability to help us. As the omnipotent creator and sustainer of the universe, God is able to hear, and He is able to save. Isaiah said that the “Lord’s hand is not shortened.” You may come to the point in your life that you feel that you are beyond God’s reach, that He cannot help you. But the truth is that we can never get to the place where the Lord cannot help us. Isaiah’s point here is that we can get to the place where He will not help us. The reason that the prophet gives for this frighteningly dismal situation is that our sin separates us from God. When we have unconfessed sin in our lives, God is displeased with us. He will not hear our prayers or come to our aid. When we have this kind of sin in our lives, we know it. Later in the same chapter Isaiah says, “For our transgressions are multiplied before thee, and our sins testify against us: for our transgressions are with us; and as for our iniquities, we know them” (Isaiah 59:12). Unconfessed sin is not the only reason for unanswered prayer, but it is something that should cause us to search our souls when it seems like the Lord is not hearing us. A familiar song says, “Nothing between my soul and the Savior.” That should be our desire every time we go to prayer.