Too Late, But Not Too Late

Right now, in this strange time, we have an invitation before us that will never be before us again. It is the invitation to meet God NOW, in this moment in history.

It’s our choice: we can seek God or not. We can ask for his perspective … or not. We can worship. Or not.

But we’ll never have this opportunity again. This time in history will never be repeated (I know, we’re all grateful for that). And its opportunity, to become forever a people who worshiped God in the midst of a pandemic and learned to share more of his heart, will never come back.

On Saturday of Easter weekend, my dear friend and sometimes coauthor Mercy Hope wrote the following reflection on her Facebook wall. She gave me permission to share it with you:

Too Late, But Not Too Late
By Mercy Hope

After Jesus was tried, beaten, crucified and buried He had His disciple’s full attention. But.

Too late.

This morning I was thinking about how the disciples may have felt the day after their Lord had been crucified. Just hours before Jesus needed them to stay awake with Him but they dozed off. Now, their eyes were bloodshot. They’d tossed and turned and paced all night. Now, sitting. Staring. They may not sleep for days. Is this what He was trying to tell us???

So.
Much.
Regret.

They thought back to how hard Jesus had tried to reveal Himself to them. But they were distracted. Posturing. Bickering.

So distracted.

Today we want to fast forward to the Resurrection. But for the disciples, there was no other option but to sit with their regret and all the questions that they would give anything to ask Jesus now that He was gone.

When He was sitting right there with them they missed Him. Often murmuring amongst themselves. Now that He was taken nothing else mattered. In their pain and grief, their priorities were clarified.

So today I am compelled to stop. Look. Listen. Feel. The lesson here is sobering and apropos.

Jesus. What do You want me to see in Your face today? What are You trying to tell me that I’ve been too distracted to hear and ascertain?

Yes, there was another “too late” …

The incredible upside at a cosmic level was the victory Jesus had just won was sealed in His blood and could never be rescinded! Hallelujah!!

But from a human perspective, on the day between death and resurrection, there is much to be learned about not missing our moment of visitation. I choose today to sit with that lesson.

For more from Mercy on drawing near to Jesus, check out her wonderful book Sacred Space: Cultivating Your Personal Eden in a Fallen World.

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Photo by Ümit Bulut on Unsplash