ReaD Micah 7:18-19
I have recently found myself reflecting more and more on humanity from Elohim’s (Creator God) point of view; allowing outrospective space to view the world as if I had created it. I wonder to myself, if I had given my creation all it needed to be in a right relationship with me and with others, why are they acting the way they do? Why do they choose the way of frustration, noise, and conflict? Don’t they see I am right here, ready to help?
I am not Elohim and I have never created a society of people, but I think this is how Jesus felt, weeping over Jerusalem; lamenting their inability to understand the peace that comes through knowing and accepting His forgiveness of sins. Of course He is going to weep when we fritter away our lives and pay no attention to how close He is. How deeply He wants us to know Him. How intensely He wants us to ask Him for help. How willing He is to offer mercy and “hurl our iniquities into the depths of the sea’.”
When I participate in this POV exercise, I lament with Him. Not only for the world, but for myself as well. It breaks my heart to know I am guilty of causing the same grief. I am both humbled by the fact that God would be so close, and at the same time ashamed I have ignored His closeness knowing how often He has shown me mercy in the past.
When I am short-tempered, when I am negligent, inconsiderate and unloving, when I am critical and harsh, in each of these situations God has never acted in kind. He patiently waits for me to turn to Him so He can graciously forgive and restore, then grow me in paths of righteousness.
He is literally a perspective shift away, a mere change of focus.
For Reflection:
- When are you most prone to “forget” God’s presence in your life? How can you train yourself to look for Him even in those moments?
By Jennifer Dreger
