Luke 19:41-44We often recognize when we have done something unwise or uncaring...and we generally find some way to make amends...eventually. We participate by accepting our part in what has happened, and our words blend with God's mercy to help renew peace and harmony. When new life emerges from previously starved or barren situations, thanksgiving and praise flow from our hearts. We notice...we accept...we participate and we give thanks!
As he came near and saw the city, he wept over it, saying, 'If you, even you, had only recognized on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. Indeed, the days will come upon you, when your enemies will set up ramparts around you and surround you, and hem you in on every side. They will crush you to the ground, you and your children within you, and they will not leave within you one stone upon another; because you did not recognize the time of your visitation from God.'
The reality, though, is that we also miss much of what God is offering and how we are empowered as His children to magnify all of the things that make for peace. Often we are too busy, or too preoccupied to notice the times when God reaches out to us. We are forgiven for that shortcoming. However, I think it might also be true that the Lord weeps when we are too busy to pay attention to His abundant invitation to a peace-filled life.
And sometimes we weep as well. One of the saddest moments of life is when we realize that the time for awareness, gratitude and engagement in "something" has passed. We utter words like, "If we had only known...."
I am glad that in our public confession we ask for forgiveness for the things we have left undone or the moments we pass by, blind to God's beauty and deaf to God's voice.
How might you look or listen more keenly today? What can you do to be more available to God?
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