Pick Up the Phone📱❤️ 🏁

Pick up. Pick up. Pick up.
I anxiously repeated in my soul as the phone rang.

I had just finished time with God, where I felt led to write the word Hope—twice—when I received a terrifying text:
“So sorry to hear about your dad.”

It was supposed to be the year of reconciliation. Weeks earlier, he had promised to meet and talk things through. Our relationship had always been surface level. We spoke on the phone occasionally, and I’d meet him for lunch or stop by his workplace every so often.

But after he lost custody of his seven biological children (I’m one of them) in a court battle, he stopped pursuing us—and in many ways, just moved on.

As I grew in Christ, I began to feel a deep desire to reconcile. To pursue him, even though I hadn’t been pursued.

When I became a father myself, and after much prayer and wise counsel, I made a difficult decision:
He wouldn’t see my three girls until our relationship grew deeper.

This wasn’t punishment. It was what I discerned to be wisdom and protection, especially in light of what the courts had accused him of.
But it didn’t lessen my desire to pursue him.

He lived just thirty minutes away—but the distance between us felt like a thousand miles.

When he didn’t pick up the phone, I knew.
I knew it had happened.
I knew he had died.

This morning, during my quiet time, God revealed something beautiful about His character—something that echoed my struggle to hear from my earthly father.

“Before they call, I will answer; while they are still speaking, I will hear.”
— Isaiah 65:24

Isaiah is painting a picture of what God will be like in the new heavens and new earth. But what moves me is this: His character doesn't change.

Unlike my earthly father, my Heavenly Father is…

“Before they call, I will answer…”

He is ready. Eager to respond even before I say a word. He isn’t impatient or distracted. He’s divinely interested. Eternally orchestrating. Tenderly focused. And somehow—miraculously—He hears the deepest cries of every soul.

There’s no anxious waiting for the phone to ring with God. I know with full confidence: He not only hears—He is working.

God is loving. Perfectly proactive. Compassionately attentive.

“While they are still speaking, I will hear…”

He understands even as we’re forming our words. He doesn’t need follow-up questions or clarifications. We don’t need to earn His attention with rituals or perfect prayers.

He is present. Real-time. A relationship that satisfies the deepest thirst in us and draws every fiber of our being.

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What Does This Mean in Context?

Isaiah was writing to a people who were living in the aftermath of exile—hell on earth. And here, God gives them a vision of hope: the new heavens and new earth.

Some may have wondered: Why not now, Lord? Why not fix it all today?

But through Isaiah, God shows that:

• He’s not reactive—He’s ready.

• He’s not distant—He’s near.

• He doesn’t wait for us to beg—He invites us to trust.

This promise was spoken thousands of years ago. And yet, we are still living in the overflow of it—standing on the shoulders of faithful giants, caught in the mercy of a loving Father.

Their trust created a legacy—a zeal—for us to draw near to God as He draws near to us. And like the woman who had been bleeding for twelve years, we stretch out to touch His cloak—believing even a brush with His presence will change everything.

Hebrews 12:1 reminds us, "Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us."

So, how can we apply this to us today?

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Never Finished Challenge:

Pick Up the Phone

Here’s the truth for you and me today:
God is already listening.
He’s already working.

He’s inviting us to pick up the phone—to talk to Him daily, to pursue Him fully, and to trust Him deeply.

Though my dad died and no earthly reconciliation will happen, I am confident that a heavenly reconciliation will. From what I saw and understood, he had invited Jesus in His heart.

Even more, I’m confident that Jesus has already reconciled you and me to the Father—fully.

So don’t leave the line silent.
Don’t let the Word sit closed.
Pick up the phone.
Talk to Him.
Open the Word daily.

And as you do, your trust will grow. So will your hope. And your confidence in the Light will carry you through the darkest valleys.

Enjoy Him in Every Part of Life

Did you breathe this morning? That was a gift.
Did you eat? That was His provision.
Did you move your body today—on this spinning earth moving 1,000 miles per hour, suspended in a universe too vast to grasp, yet precisely balanced by gravity?

That was God mercifully orchestrating your steps. Don’t take them for granted.

Acknowledge Him. Include Him. Give thanks.

One habit I love:
First thing in the morning, I walk barefoot into our backyard. I look up at the sky, take deep breaths, and confidently declare:

“You are the King of Kings. Creator of the universe and of me. You are my Father. Thank You.”

He is everything we need or could ever hope for.

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What does today say about God?

He’s not reactive—He’s ready.

He’s not distant—He’s near.

He doesn’t wait for us to beg—He invites us to trust.

His ways are higher than our ways, but they are not completely invisible to our eyes. The things we don’t understand do not hinder our trust in Him or our desire to pursue Him; they divinely empower it.

Thank you, Jesus!

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