“Just as a pregnant woman writhes and cries out in pain as she gives birth, so were we in your presence, Lord. We, too, writhe in agony, but nothing comes of our suffering. We have not given salvation to the earth, nor brought life into the world. But those who die in the Lord will live; their bodies will rise again! Those who sleep in the earth will rise up and sing for joy! For your life-giving light will fall like dew on your people in the place of the dead!”
Isaiah 26:17-19 NLT
Do we hear a hint of frustration in Isaiah’s prophetic voice this morning? God’s hand of discipline weighed heavily upon them and, no matter what they did, “nothing [came] of [their] suffering. Like a woman in labour, they cried out in pain, but their efforts seemed to produce nothing. They had hoped to bring deliverance, but instead experienced weakness and disappointment. And, rightly, Isaiah continues with an acknowledgement of his, and the people’s, limitations. Perhaps there was a breakthrough when Isaiah realised that God’s greatness was infinitely more than any human being’s, because, as we move to verse 19 today, we find that he had received a revelation of hope. Hope for the future. Hope for all those who “die in the Lord”.
Sometimes we pilgrims seem to work away, but nothing seems to come of our labours. A missionary might work in a foreign land and see no converts, despite many years of toil. Pastors might preach many messages from the pulpit, all focused on the congregation’s spiritual growth, but the same issues of sin remain. We pilgrims might pray for a long time for the healing of a loved one, but sickness remains. Perhaps we are praying for revival, for God to visit us again through His Spirit, but nothing changes. We pray over issues, but God never seems to hear our prayers, let alone answer them. Do we waste our time and effort? But then, like Isaiah, we realise God’s ability and our inability, and we shift our focus from the issues to the future. In this life, we pilgrims were never promised that the fruits of our labours would be seen straight away. The problem is that we live in an “instant” generation, expecting immediate answers.
The psalmist Asaph had similar problems. He looked on at the people around him, and found that the proud seemed to survive the catastrophes that he was facing. He had a good rant in Psalm 73, even confessing, “But as for me, I almost lost my footing. My feet were slipping, and I was almost gone” (verse 2). In verse 11, the people even wondered, ““What does God know?” they ask. “Does the Most High even know what’s happening?”” Asaph’s depression deepened and he wrote, “Did I keep my heart pure for nothing? Did I keep myself innocent for no reason? I get nothing but trouble all day long; every morning brings me pain”. And then revelation finally came in verse 17, and he wrote, “Then I went into your sanctuary, O God, and I finally understood the destiny of the wicked”.
There was a time when Daniel had been praying and, after a time, had a visitation from the Angel Gabriel on the banks of the River Tigris. The figure of the Angel was terrifying, but he said to Daniel, “ … Don’t be afraid, Daniel. Since the first day you began to pray for understanding and to humble yourself before your God, your request has been heard in heaven. I have come in answer to your prayer” (Daniel 10:12). The next verse explained the reason for the delay, “But for twenty-one days the spirit prince of the kingdom of Persia blocked my way. Then Michael, one of the archangels, came to help me, and I left him there with the spirit prince of the kingdom of Persia”. Sometimes we don’t know why God seems to have ears deaf to our prayers. Or why the answers take so long to come.
Peter wrote, “The eyes of the Lord watch over those who do right, and his ears are open to their prayers…” (1 Peter 3:12). Proverbs 15:29, “The Lord is far from the wicked, but he hears the prayers of the righteous”. We pilgrims are righteous in God’s sight because of Jesus, who died so our sins could be forgiven and we could receive His righteousness. So God hears our prayers, and in faith we believe that this is the case. So why does He seem to delay in answering them? There can be several reasons. Perhaps we have unconfessed sin that is blocking our prayer requests. Or perhaps God’s timing is different to our expectations, because He might have a better answer waiting for just the right time. Perhaps our motives are selfish. But whatever, I firmly believe that God answers “the fervent prayers of a righteous man”. His answers can be “Yes”, “No” or “Wait”. But answer he will.
What are we pilgrims praying about this morning? Have faith that God has heard your prayer and, like Daniel, the answer will come in due time. In the meantime, however, we need to lift our eyes to Heaven and enter God’s sanctuary. Once in God’s presence, Asaph wrote, “Whom have I in heaven but you? I desire you more than anything on earth. My health may fail, and my spirit may grow weak, but God remains the strength of my heart; he is mine forever” (Psalm 73:25-26). And he finishes the Psalm, “But as for me, how good it is to be near God! I have made the Sovereign Lord my shelter, and I will tell everyone about the wonderful things you do”.
Dear Father God. Sometimes we pray for years, for a loved one to be saved, or someone we know to be healed from a long illness. But we know that You hear our prayers, and we wait patiently for Your answer. We repent of any barriers we erect in response to our impatience, and instead we, in faith, leave the issues to You and Your perfect ways. We ask this in Jesus’ name. Amen.
