”Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near:” ~ Isaiah 55:6
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The striking message from this verse is that God is not always find-able; that there comes a time when we cannot find God… even when we seek Him. This truth tells us that God does not operate on our schedules; rather, we must conform our schedules to His.
When God reaches out to us we have a finite window of opportunity to respond to His call. If we are not saved, we must realize that salvation is not always available to us. There comes a time when the Father will not draw men unto Himself; and we cannot come to Him unless He calls us. Consider these awesome truths:
►“No man can come to me [Jesus], except the Father which hath sent me draw him…” ~ John 6:44a
►“Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer; they shall seek me early, but they shall not find me” ~ Proverbs 1:28
►“But they refused to hearken, and pulled away the shoulder, and stopped their ears, that they should not hear… Therefore it is come to pass, that as he cried, and they would not hear; so they cried, and I would not hear, saith the LORD of hosts:” ~ Zechariah 7:11, 13
Clearly, we fool ourselves when we delay in responding to God’s call. We fail to realize what an insult it is to turn God away when He knocks at our door. He will not knock forever.
Nevertheless, there is another side to this coin of truth that has to do with us:
“…but he stiffened his neck, and hardened his heart from turning unto the LORD God of Israel.” ~ 2 Chronicles 36:13b
While we are rejecting/resisting God’s call, we ourselves are changing. Think of a bottle of milk that decides it’s not ready to go into the refrigerator/fridge. While it delays, it is slowly going sour (spoiling). If it delays long enough it won’t be milk anymore and its place will not be in the refrigerator; it now belongs in the trash. AND, the good refrigerator will not open to let it come in.
Scripture puts it this way:
►“He, that being often reproved hardeneth his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy.” ~ Proverbs 29:1
►“Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination? nay, they were not at all ashamed, neither could they blush…” ~ Jeremiah 6:15 and 8:12
While we are resisting God, we are also changing; till eventually we are not even embarrassed/ashamed that we treat God “like dirt”, till we don’t even care that we now prefer our sin to His Holiness.
Finally, our text also has a message for Believers. The saved are also called to be sanctified. We are called not just to accept Jesus as Saviour, we are also challenged to accept Him as LORD of our lives, the One who reigns over our day-to-day, minute-to-minute decisions.
God has already planned out our lives, He has something specific for each of His children to do/accomplish every day. He calls Believers into constant fellowship with Him. That fellowship allows us to get to know Him. That knowledge of Him inwardly transforms us. That transformation makes it possible to discern His will and do it (Romans 12:1-3).
But, sadly, we who are believers often reject His call to communion and go our own way because we are too busy pursuing our own agendas: “we have work to do, bills to pay, people to see, places to go…”. But, God does not operate according to our schedules. We, believers, have a window of opportunity to serve Him. Jesus put it this way:
“I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work.” ~ John 9:4
“Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth, while the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh, when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them” ~ Ecclesiastes 12:1
The opportunities that God set aside for us to serve Him today, will not be there tomorrow, or twenty years from now.
- The stranger on the bus/subway that God wanted you/me to share the Gospel with, will not be on that bus/subway tomorrow.
- The young man/woman who needed some encouragement today, will have hardened his/her heart just a little bit more by tomorrow and won’t even listen to you next year.
- The child you could have adopted this year, might already be adopted by a homosexual “couple” next year.
Similarly, the depth of fellowship with God that could be achieved over a twenty-year span of communing with Him, will (most likely) not be available over a one year span. The spiritual growth possible for an individual in a lifetime of studying God’s Word, will not be possible for that person in a year of study towards the end of his/her life. Time spent out of fellowship with God is time spent in misery and frustration; time spent with God is time spent in perfect peace.
“Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.” ~ Isaiah 26:3
God is not always find-able; we can only see Him according to the time He sets on His schedule. Therefore, let us seek Him now, IF we still have the opportunity.
Reflections in The WORD 
Feeling blessed
Your article says that we are ignoring God. That we have turned our back on God. I have been seeking the Lord God our Father for over 4 decades. I still haven’t found Him. The Bible is God’s word but not actually God Himself. Not found there/here. Prayers only receive silence, no God there/here. My God given life of poverty isolates me from God. Can’t afford to go to church. So no God there/here. Why is it always our fault when God is absent from your life? Could God just plain well not want to be involved in my life. The only reason, that I can come up with, that sin separates us for God, is that He wants it to. Sin can’t stop God. All the disciples were despicable sinners. All the prophets were sinners, yet God appeared or spoke to them. I don’t believe that it is always our fault.
Thanks, and God bless you, in Jesus holy name, Amen.
Hello,
First I would like to ask what you mean by calls you. Is that when you give yourself to God through Jesus? As for me I gave myself to God through Jesus about 42 years ago. I know that I probably don’t read my Bible enough, and I may not pray well enough, and I will admit that I have had times when I didn’t pay enough attention to God.
That written, not said, I have not heard, seen, or felt anything from God in these long years. If you did mean when I turned to God and Jesus as being called, then God knocked, when I opened the door He wasn’t there. God has remained silent and absent all these years. Not a single trace. I am struggling with God’s promise to be here for me when He is obviously absent. What can I do? I am at the end of my rope, and living in despair over this. I need God and He ignores me. 42 years of nothing but silence, absence, unanswered prayers, heartbreak, and misery. Top that with this life long poverty that God keeps me stuck. Where is God?
Thanks and God bless you, in Jesus holy name, Amen.
So sorry for the late response.
I have been having some trouble with this website and have not attended to it in a long while.
Let me try to answer/address your questions/points in the order that they appeared.
First I would like to ask what you mean by calls you. Is that when you give yourself to God through Jesus?
God makes calls each and every one of us to fellowship with Him. Though the call is singular, we often experience/conceptualize it in two ways: (1) the call to salvation through faith in the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ and (2) the call to service (a life of obedience and ministry). Note, the “second call” is both a consequence of the first and evidence of the first.
…I have not heard, seen, or felt anything from God in these long years…
Scripture makes it clear (e.g., Philippians 1:6) that God will continue to work with us is we respond to the call of salvation. He commits to perfecting/sanctifying us.
Consequently, the void/absence that you describe seems to suggest that you might consider whether or not you truly put faith in Jesus for your salvation. Consider the following:
(1) Salvation is more than “believism” just believing in God/Jesus doesn’t mean salvation has occurred.
(2) Salvation requires more than just repeating a few words, as is often taught erroneously. Rather, we have to have even a basic understanding of the meaning/requirements of salvation: we have to know what we are committing to do (which is surrendering all authority/ownership of our lives) AND to Whom we are submitting. Frequently, confessions of faith are made well before there is a basic understanding of who God is, of who Jesus is. Thus the confession of faith is made to a god of our own making/imagination.
Accordingly, it might be wise to revisit (by reading/studying Scripture) your understanding of who God is and what God demands of us. Then you can confirm whether or not the God of the Bible is actually the God in which you had put your faith.
In closing (for now), consider the statements you shared: “…I have had times when I didn’t pay enough attention to God.” AND “…I need God and He ignores me…”
Effectively the first one says, “I ignored God.” And the second one says “l feel God ignored me.”
It’s like saying God called me but I sent His calls to voicemail; I wonder why God hasn’t called me?
Consider, as a first step, reading what God has to say to you (and all of us) in His Word, The Bible. While making that first step, consider, praying to Him for guidance. And, while doing that, consider attending a Bible-teaching church. Then see if you still feel disconnected from God.
Praying this is helpful.
All the best
Hello ,
What I meant is what is my specific purpose, my calling. What does God want me to do? What would be my reason for being here? A useless life without purpose or accomplishment isn’t worth living. A life lived in God’s silence and absence has no calling.
I can see where you might come to the conclusion you did about God ignoring me because I ignored Him. Try reversing that order. I drifted away because of being ignored by God first. I spent the first two decades, of 4+ decades trying to do as the Bible teaches, only to be ignored. So yes I wained in my prayers, reading the Bible, praising God. How could I not? God’s silence, absence have been devastating to keeping the faith strong. Top that with never receiving any answer to my prayers, not Yes, not No, not Wait. Just plain nothing.
This nothingness from God is my stumbling block. A block that only God can remove. That is why I need more from/of God. A little interaction.
God bless you, in Jesus holy name, Amen.