“They will crush you into the ground, and your children with you. Your enemies will not leave a single stone in place, because you did not recognize it when God visited you.”
Luke 19:44 NLT
We now fall into step alongside Jesus as he makes his way towards Jerusalem. It is two weeks until the events of Easter, so the intensity of Jesus’ final journey and the realisation of his purpose intensifies.
Pausing and gazing down on Jerusalem, Jesus reminds us that while God is always close by, on many occasions we failed to recognise and welcome him. Sometimes I’ve chosen to ignore God and suppress my conscience because I want to indulge my own preferences. At other times I’m so caught up with life itself that I’m ignorant of the fact that God might have something to say to me. Herein the challenge of confession, when I acknowledge there is both ignorance and volition in my disobedience.
Reflecting on my spiritual journey, I can identify moments where I would have done well to pause and consider God’s will. I see a lot of misplaced energy as I wrestled with my own disappointments and frustrations rather than finding God within them. I’m not sure I had the maturity to have taken a different course, but do recognise just how different life might have been had I found the resolve to manage my reactions in a God-centred way. While I regret those moments, regret offers nothing to my current or future direction of travel, so I seek to download the learning point and build it into my future life decisions.
I now consider every apparent crisis in my life is an opportunity to seek Jesus. My instincts, driven primarily by my fight/flight syndrome, are poor guides to how to take stock and move forward from within my crises. Jesus, looking ahead, sees just how fickle the crowd is. Jesus encourages all of us to sink deep roots into the soil of faith.
QUESTION
Take time to confess those times when you have not asked or listened to God’s guidance for you.
PRAYER
Lord, help me to see your presence in my life and not miss the things you would say to me.
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