‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭59:2‬

“But your iniquities have separated you from your God; And your sins have hidden His face from you, So that He will not hear.” – Isaiah‬ ‭59:2‬ ‭

Have you ever felt that every time you commit a sin, you grow farther away from God? As if each sin creates an even greater distance between you and Him. Then we begin to wonder whether God still wants to hear our prayers, because we feel undeserving of His grace and unworthy of His love. And in that place, we feel so ashamed to come into His presence.

When Isaiah spoke to the people of Israel, he declared, “But your iniquities have separated you from your God.” The Word of God is very clear that God did not separate Himself from us, rather, our iniquity caused us to withdraw from His presence. As it is written, “For my iniquities have gone over my head; Like a heavy burden they are too heavy for me” (Psalms‬ ‭38:4)‬. Our iniquity overwhelms us with shame and guilt. That is why Adam and Eve were naked and felt no shame before sin entered the world. Once sin came, shame and guilt followed. These heavy feelings hinder us from drawing near to God and from reconciliation, and they make us feel unworthy to stand in His presence.

Their iniquity did not remove God from the garden, for the LORD was still present and seeking them, saying, “Where are you?” (Genesis 3:9). Rather, iniquity brought forth a heavy burden of shame and guilt within Adam and Eve, and because of it they hid themselves from the presence of the LORD instead of walking with Him (Genesis 3:7–10).

The same is true for all of us. When we are overwhelmed by guilt and shame, we also hide from God. We begin to make excuses, and some even say they no longer believe, not because God has left, but because they want to escape the heavy burden they feel inside. Over time, these feelings harden their hearts and turn them away, not because God has departed, but because sin has deceived them (Hebrews 3:13).

When we choose our iniquity rather than God, we choose to separate ourselves from the very source of life. God Himself says, “For My people have committed two evils: They have forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters, And hewn themselves cisterns—broken cisterns that can hold no water.” (Jeremiah 2:13). God is very clear. To live in iniquity is to forsake Him, and to turn away from God is to turn away from the only source that can truly satisfy the soul. When we are separated from Him, we become like those broken cisterns that are unable to hold water that makes our souls grow dry and thirsty.

In that dryness and thirst, we attempt to cover the emptiness with the pleasures of sin. We are reminded of the woman at the well, who had five husbands, and the man she was living with was not her husband (John 4:18). She searched for satisfaction in relationships, yet remained empty. Jesus revealed to her that He is the living water, saying that whoever drinks of the water He gives will never thirst (John 4:14).

In our brokenness, we also reach for what feels good for a moment, hoping it will quiet the pain within us. Many turn to vices such as drugs, alcohol, pornography, and even food to fill what only God can heal. Yet the Word of God is clear that the pleasures of sin are only for a season (Hebrews 11:25). What begins as comfort ends in bondage, for Jesus answered them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin.” (John 8:34).

Isaiah did not only make it clear that our iniquities separate us from God, but he also declared, “And your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He will not hear.” It is important to understand this truth. God hides His face not from us, but from our sin. Again, not from us, but from our sin.

God does not reject the sinner who seeks Him, but He cannot have fellowship with iniquity. As it is written, “For You are not a God who takes pleasure in wickedness, Nor shall evil dwell with You” (Psalms‬ ‭5:4). But throughout the Bible, whenever a man humbles himself before God, the LORD hears. Each time Israel repented and confessed their sins, God heard their prayers. Even Manasseh, who committed grievous sins and led God’s people into evil, was not rejected when he humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers. When he prayed, the LORD heard his prayer and restored him (2 Chronicles 33:12–13). For God Himself declares, “If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land” (2 Chronicles 7:14). Now, it is very clear that iniquity separates us from God, who is the source of all life and all that we need.  God did not hide His face from us as people, but from our sin. That is why the Word of God assures us that when we confess our sins, He is faithful to forgive us and to hear our prayers. As it is written, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9). 

I want you to understand how serious God is about sin. If sin were not serious to God, He would not have humbled Himself and taken on human form. Scripture tells us that our LORD Jesus Christ, “being in the form of God… made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men” (Philippians 2:6–7). He borrowed a virgin womb to live among us, taught us, suffered, bled, and was crucified, for “without shedding of blood is no remission” (Hebrews 9:22). He then rose again, having defeated sin and death (1 Corinthians 15:3–4). All of this was done to deal fully with the sin that separated us from God and caused His face to be hidden from us. The cross stands as the greatest evidence of how seriously God takes sin and how deeply He desires to restore us to Himself.

Jesus paid for our sins not so that we might continue living in them, but to deliver us from them. Scripture says, “He gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity” (Titus 2:14), and again, “How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?” (Romans 6:2). Jesus did not only forgive and deliver us from our sins. He also gives us the power to walk away from them and live a new life.

This is why many of us struggle to understand the Word of God. We read the Bible again and again, yet it still feels difficult to grasp. Even when someone explains it to us clearly, it can seem confusing or hard to take in. We may try harder, listen longer, and still feel like something is missing.

Sin separated us from God, and because of that separation, we became strangers to Him. We did not truly know God, not because we were incapable of understanding, but because sin had cut us off from Him and from His Word, which alone reveals who God is. As it is written, “You, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works” (Colossians 1:21) Our sin made us fully alienated from God, leaving us without true knowledge of Him.

That is why, when we first come to Him, everything feels new and unfamiliar. God’s ways feel different, His Word feels new, and walking with Him can feel strange at first. It is not because something is wrong, but because we are beginning a restored relationship that was once broken by sin.

But now that sin has been dealt with through our LORD Jesus Christ, that separation has been removed. We are reconciled to the Father. As it is written, “Now all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ” (2 Corinthians 5:18).

What then are you waiting for? Repent from your sins. Turn away from them. Believe in the LORD Jesus Christ, and be baptized for the remission of sins (Acts 2:38). And you shall Received the gift of the holy Spirit

Our reconciliation with God comes only through the blood of Jesus Christ. His blood has opened the way for us to come to God. As Scripture declares, “Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus” (Hebrews 10:19). His blood removes shame and guilt that once kept us from God’s presence. Now we are invited to come boldly to the throne of grace, where we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need (Hebrews 4:16). Most importantly, Jesus did not only remove the sin that separated us from the Father, but He also brought us near to Him. As it is written, “But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ” (Ephesians 2:13).