13 And the LORD said: “Because this people draw near with their mouth and honor Me with their lips, while their hearts are far from Me, and their fear of Me is a commandment taught by men, 14therefore, behold, I will again do wonderful things with this people, with wonder upon wonder; and the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the discernment of their discerning men shall be hidden.” ~ Isaiah 29:13-14
Some people read this as a rebuke from God. But if you think about it, it is not a rebuke at all. God is acknowledging their desire for fellowship with Him, though it is a bit skewed or distorted. Listen to what He said, “The people draw near with their mouth and honor Me with their lips …” That is speaking of praise and worship. That is speaking of them seeking Him. They even have a seemingly healthy fear of Him. The problem is, their hearts are far from Him, and their fear is a commandment taught to them by their teachers, or at least their leaders, those who guide them spiritually. They do not know God personally for themselves, nor do they know His commands or even how to truly worship Him.
I heard a testimony from a Muslim who was actually in prison because of his involvement with Jihad. He was so intent on finding truth and making a connection with God to serve Him that he was praying more than 5 times a day and reading the whole Koran 10 times in a week. He was extremely devoted and actually had powers where he knew the conversations in other prison cells without him being there. To make a long story short, Jesus appeared to him in his cell and revealed Himself to this violent and murderous man. This man was not seeking Jesus personally, but he was seeking truth. He wanted to be close to God and had a desire to do His will. That is how it was with those people. They were not on the right track per se, but they had a desire to draw close to Him, and they desired to fear Him. They just did not have the right people in their lives to direct them to the right path.
Jesus told a parable about the Good Shepherd and the one lost sheep. In the parable, the Good Shepherd realized that one of His sheep was missing. He left the 99 other sheep and went in search of the one missing sheep. When He found it, He was happy and placed it on His shoulders and took Him back to the sheep pen to be reunited with the other sheep. That is exactly what is happening here.
Look at what God says, and I will paraphrase, “Because they have done these things, with a desire to know Me, but have no one to teach them, I Myself will show them My wonder upon wonders. And I will take away the false teaching that they have been taught.”
The bottom line is this, if you have a strong desire to know Him, even if you are off course, He will reveal Himself to you. Therefore, let me encourage you today that if you truly want to know God in a personal way, you can. Just start with reading the Bible. Not skimming over the Bible or reading it recreationally. I mean, if you have a true desire to know Him, to know Jesus, He will let Himself be found by you, but you must put in the effort.
Heavenly Father, I love You and desire to know You intimately. Please strengthen my desire and help me to learn to sincerely seek Your face. Hear me when I call, and answer me when I pray, in Jesus’ name, amen.