“But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear.”

God spoke through the prophet Isaiah to proclaim his message of judgement and how his people had failed in their faithfulness to him. The nation Israel had split into two kingdoms, with the northern kingdom, Israel, succumbing to Assyrian captivity. The southern kingdom, Judah, held the promise of the messianic line and as such believed they were immune to God’s jealousy and ultimately his judgement.

Instead of using God’s provision and blessing to serve those around them, they used their freedom to divulge in sin, forsake justice, and reject their holy God. One would think that hearing the prophets and seeing their fellow brothers in captivity would cause them to pause and take heed! Nope.

We sin by nature as well as by choice. We cannot understand the breadth and depth of God’s love without understanding the breadth and depth of our own sin. We cannot stand in the presence of a holy God. In the verse right before this verse it states, “God’s arm is not too short to save, his ear too dull to hear.” It is not God who keeps himself from us, it is us!

As I have taught our children to stop, look both ways, and then safely cross the street, I think of my own faith walk with regard to confession. Like my kids, I walk as I look both ways. I don’t really stop; I rely on my other senses to give me input to keep me safe from harm. While that may work sometimes crossing the street, I believe God is wanting us to fully stop: Stop in prayer. Stop in his word. Stop in our conversations and allow the Holy Spirit to show us where we sin, where we are relying on “other senses” to get us through life, rather than him.

But take heart! As much as our sin separates us from the presence of the holy God, He does not leave us, but is the one who can take our sin and actually bear up under it. Jesus did not turn his face away from our sin; Jesus is the only one who faced our sin head on. In Scripture we have the promise that “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness” (John 1:9). We don’t need to present sacrifices, gifts, whatever ability or power we have to be right with God, we simply need a heart that is humble to confess and ask for forgiveness.

Lord, I praise you that you desire mercy, that when I come to you with all my sin and burdens, you desire to forgive and take them from me. Jesus, I am so thankful that you did not turn your face from my sin, but faced it head on. Fill me with the Holy Spirit, so that when I do sin, I am quick to seek your face and ask for forgiveness. May I not wallow in my weakness and guilt but rejoice in your all-encompassing grace. Thank you, Jesus, for the breadth and depth of your love that covers my sin so that I can be made right with you.