Knowing the time of your visitation – Part 2

Jesus wept over Jerusalem because the Jews failed to understand the time of their visitation. How unfortunate that they missed the blessings Jesus had for them. Here was the Lord of the universe visiting Jerusalem, but they were spiritually blind that they could not comprehend the significance of the occasion. As John states, “He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him.” (John1: 10-11 NKJV). They have lived in the blindness of heart ever since.

God moves in time and seasons. Only spiritually discerning hearts can take advantage of the Lord’s time and seasons. At times, what determines one’s destiny may be whether or not one takes advantage of the time and season in which he lives. Theologians talk about the ‘kairos’ moment as different from the ‘chronos’ moment. The Kairos moment is the opportune time and season when God acts, while the ‘chronos’ simply refers to chronology of time. We must pray never to miss our kairos moment. We all have our times and seasons. We have our productive age and the expiry of our productive season. Yet, it is also true that some discover their purpose in life much later and take advantage of the short time they have to live to make significant impact on their environment.

Among the armed men that came to David to assist him wrest the kingdom from Saul, the least among them were the sons of Issachar, just two hundred men. But their distinguishing trait was that they understood the times and knew what Israel ought to do at any time. We need such men in the body of Christ, those who correctly discern what God is saying to His Church. Thank God for the Holy Spirit, Who is given to us to guide, teach and lead us. We need to immerse ourselves in Him.

Abraham did not miss the day of God’s visitation. He was vigilant to welcome the angels of God, when they passed by his way. Because he was very vigilant on that day, he prevailed on the angelic visitors to stop over to have a special meal prepared by his wife, Sarah. The result of that meal was the birth of Isaac. Conversely, the people of Sodom failed to take advantage when the angels visited their city. Rather than treat the angels of God with civility, they expressed their desire to commit sodomy with them. For the infamy of the people of Sodom, the whole city was wiped out. The same goes for the ten foolish virgins. They failed to provide oil in their lanterns. When the bridegroom came for his bride, only those who were ready went with him (Matthew 25: 10 NKJV).

Though Bartimaeus was physically blind, yet he did not miss out on the timing of Jesus’ visitation. Because he was spiritually ready and prepared, he was able to seize the opportunity when Jesus passed his way. He was not only ready, but also persevered. Against all the advice of critics for him to keep quiet and not trouble the Master, he cried out louder, “Then many warned him to be quiet; but he cried out all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” So, Jesus stood still and commanded him to be called. Then they called the blind man, saying to him, “Be of good cheer. Rise, He is calling you.” (Mark 10:48-49 NKJV) CONTACT: pastoracukachi@gmail.com