He also said to the crowds, “When you see [a] cloud rising in the west you say immediately that it is going to rain – and so it does; and when you notice that the wind is blowing from the south you say that it is going to be hot – and so it is. You hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of the earth and the sky; why do you not know how to interpret the present time? (Luke 12:54-56 New American Bible translation)
It’s amazing to me how the Lord speaks to us through scripture – if only we would take the time to LISTEN! This one took me a while – lectio divina is like that – you need TIME and PATIENCE. Maybe that should be something you pray for before reading scripture. I must have read this short passage ten times before getting the message. On the surface it seems simple but there is so much more to scripture than what’s on the surface.
At first I thought, in this verse Jesus is telling us that our thoughts create our reality. I rationalized – He says: “you say immediately……. and so it does.” When have we heard something similar? In Genesis, when God created the earth. Jesus is clueing us in to the power of the divine within us – we were made in his image and likeness – our thoughts and words are powerful, as long as we TRUST, confident in the fact that all power comes from Him! While this may be one of the messages, I soon realized there is so much more.
Jesus talks about “interpretation” of the present time? What does the present time look like? We can look at present time as it relates to the world: I hear people talking about the news all the time – crime is on the rise, there is corruption in politics, human morale and morality are low, entertainment UGH! To some people its all gloom and doom. But what happened to our trust in the Lord that all will be well? Why not look to what disturbs us the most about the news and take action? Interpret means to understand as having a particular meaning or significance. Let us ask then, what do these news reports mean for us, what can we do to change them? Mahatma Ghandi said it best when he said: Be the change you want to see in the world! Jesus is now calling us to action.
We can look at present time as it relates to our personal lives: I hear people talking about their own personal lives, when life isn’t measuring up to their expectations – they’re struggling with infertility, with their work, with their relationships. They’ re so focused on what they want, that they fail to stop to interpret what the struggle means. What do I mean by this? We’ve all heard it said that God answers ALL prayer – but sometimes he answers with a NO! So when we see that our best efforts are not bringing about the result that we desire let’s take a little time to interpret the present time! Trust that Father knows best!
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