have a purpose. They are like barometers that warn us that our relationship with God has grown distant and cold. It should be a time of taking stock. We need to tell God that we want his fellowship. We need to confess our distance from him and ask him to reveal to us any disobedience in our lives that may be creating an invisible barrier between us. Isaiah once replied to Israel’s complaint that God wasn’t answering their requests with these words: “Behold, Yahweh isn’t too weak to save, nor too deaf