Written by Phoebe Ng. Photograph by Phoebe Ng.
The last chord I played rang out into the night and bounced off of the bleachers as the sound of paced steps and distant chatter retook the foreground. Feeling lonely and a little foolish, I chided myself, remembering why I had been coming here to play and pray over my college campus every Monday night for the past few months.
“And when he drew near and saw the city, he wept over it, saying ‘would that you, even you, had known on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. For the days will come upon you, when your enemies will set up a barricade around you and surround you and hem you in on every side and tear you down to the ground, you and your children within you. And they will not leave one stone upon another in you, because you did not know the time of your visitation.’” (Luke 19:41-44)
What I felt in part, Jesus felt to the full. A deep and—dare I say—desperate longing for the lost, for the broken, for the hurting and the hungry. The Lord wept because he knew there was so much for them. In his immeasurable love he wanted to pour out his riches and shower them with blessings, but all these things were “hidden from their eyes.”
And yet, he did not give up hope—and neither have I. The Lord himself promised that the enemy “will not enter this city or shoot an arrow here. He will not come before it with shield or build a siege ramp against it. By the way that he came he will return; he will not enter this city […] I will defend this city and save it, for my sake and for the sake of David my servant.” (2 Kings 19:30-34)
Father God, open my eyes and my heart’s eyes that I might know the time of your visitation, that I might know your movement in this place. Lord Jesus give me the courage and the wisdom to follow your lead, to take after you in your ministry work, and to love Lord as you love. Lord Jesus break my heart for what breaks yours.
Reflection Questions
1. What kinds of brokenness and hurt do you see within the community you are living in? Where do you see a need for redemption?
2. What do you think God’s plans are for your city? How can you come alongside of God in his movement?