God says:

“Can you produce your mother’s divorce papers
    proving I got rid of her?
Can you produce a receipt
    proving I sold you?
Of course you can’t.
    It’s your sins that put you here,
    your wrongs that got you shipped out.
So why didn’t anyone come when I knocked?
    Why didn’t anyone answer when I called?
Do you think I’ve forgotten how to help?
    Am I so decrepit that I can’t deliver?
I’m as powerful as ever,
    and can reverse what I once did:
I can dry up the sea with a word,
    turn river water into desert sand,
And leave the fish stinking in the sun,
    stranded on dry land . . .
Turn all the lights out in the sky
    and pull down the curtain.” (The Message).

From a human point of view, people often ask, ‘Where was God when I called to Him?’ In one way or another we express the problem of unanswered prayer. But here it’s turned around. We see from God’s angle as He speaks about the problem of un-answering people.

God still has the power to make good on His promises. He is totally in control of nature. The only possible obstacle is the one that has always been there: i.e. their unresponsiveness to His Word and Work.

‘…the need for change is urgent, for there is the possibility of a new beginning if only God’s people will grasp it by faith and move forward into it.’ (Barry Webb: ‘Isaiah’, p.198).