Zechariah 7:13 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.
Suppose one of my children just knocked himself out to please me today. I got breakfast in bed from him. I came home at the end of the day to find my truck washed. He washed the dishes. Then, after all of this, he comes to me with an eager face and says, “Dad, is there anything else you want me to do today?” Can you think of any circumstance under which I would not be pleased by that?
Well, suppose I put a cigarette dangling from his lips in each of these pictures. He is dropping ashes into my scrambled eggs and in the dishwater, and he comes up blowing smoke rings and says casually, “Hey, Dad, what else do you want me to do?” Wouldn’t that be a silly question from him if he knows I don’t want him to smoke? Yet, that is what we oftentimes do to God. That is what Israel did to God.
Israel was in a time of transition. After seventy years of captivity they had returned and were rebuilding the temple. This time of transition brought some questions. One of the questions was, “Should we continue our fasts?” They had a number of fasts which commemorated the sacking of Jerusalem, the burning of the temple, and so on. Now these were not fasts that God had required. This was above and beyond the call of duty for them. It was super-spiritual of them!
God’s answer is very instructive. In verse 7 He says, “Should not ye hear the words which the LORD hath cried by the former prophets?” God is saying, “Look, I sent prophets to give you specific directions years ago when Jerusalem was prosperous, but you rejected them. Now you are keeping all these spiritual, liturgical fasts, doing more than I have asked, but you are doing less than I have asked when it comes to just common decency with other people. You are not doing right by widows or your brother, and you are not showing mercy or integrity. Execute true judgment! Hear the words I have already given to you!”
Verse 11 says, “But they refused to hearken, and pulled away their shoulder, and stopped their ears… they made their hearts as an adamant stone.” Verse 13 says, “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.” These people were asking for spiritual guidance when they were not acting on the guidance they had already been given. No amount of piety will ever compensate for doing what is right, right now. Do what you know to be right. In short, when you pray, always be willing to act on the answer you already have.
God is never at a lack for guidance to give you. Do you have guidance today? If the answer is no, you either have not asked or you are not acting on what God has already given guidance about. A third possibility is that God is giving guidance, but it is delayed. But, let’s just take the first two. I am not pleasing God if I am asking when I should be acting, and I’m not pleasing God if I’m acting when I should be asking.
Am I acting when I should be asking? Am I asking when I should be acting? Am I saying, “God, please give me direction,” when the fact is that He has already given me direction? Perhaps I am like my child when I ask God for more guidance as a cigarette is dangling from my lips.
You will never lack for guidance in your life if you simply ask specifically for the guidance you need right now and act specifically on the guidance God has already given you.