“There is no one who calls on your name, or attempts to take hold of you; for you have hidden your face from us, and have delivered us into the hand of our iniquity.” (Isaiah 64։7)

These words from the prophecy of Isaiah are a painful yet truthful mirror of the spiritual condition of humanity. They do not speak only about one time or one people; rather, they reveal the state of the human heart when it slowly drifts away from its Creator. We no longer call upon the name of God not because we do not know Him, but because we have learned to live in the illusion of self-sufficiency. Humanity has begun to trust in its own strength, its own calculations, and its own intellect, forgetting that without God everything is fragile.

We no longer make God our refuge. When hardship comes, we run after people, material means, and temporary solutions, but not toward Him who is the only firm and unshakable foundation. Our hearts have become filled with restless noise, judgment, malice, hatred, envy, and rivalry. Human beings have turned one another into opponents and enemies rather than brothers. It is this inner darkness that has gradually closed the eyes of our souls.

When a person does not pray, does not repent, and does not seek the face of God, he himself turns away from the light. And when God “turns His face away,” it is not a sign of hatred, but of awakening. He allows us to feel the weight of our sins so that we may understand how vulnerable we are without His unique presence. God does not condemn with pleasure; He does so with sorrow, waiting for the return of humanity rather than its destruction.

What we must do is simple, yet profoundly deep. We must return with humble hearts and call upon the name of God. We must cleanse ourselves from inner evil and hatred and be reconciled with one another. And we must make God our only refuge, so that He may hear us, forgive us, and once again illuminate our lives with His precious presence.

Deacon MIKAYEL MARGARYAN