March 19, 2016: The Things That Make for Peace

Luke 19:41-44

“If you, even you, had only recognized on this day the things that make for peace!” (v. 41)

What makes you cry? When we cry, we get a clue as to the things that matter to us. You’re watching something, or reading something, or maybe you’re just thinking, remembering, reminiscing, when suddenly a tear streaks your cheek. If you can name what it is you’re feeling at that moment, you have some insight into what really matters to you.

Luke says Jesus wept over Jerusalem. What triggered his tears? The longing for peace, and the sense that it was not to be. “If you, even you, had only recognized on this day the things that make for peace!”

One thing that makes for peace is acceptance—a perspective that helps us come to terms with life when things don’t go our way. There is a time to struggle and fight. But there is also a time to say, “Thy will be done.”

I remember a woman who fought her cancer for years, but when it became apparent that she could not beat it, she had the faith to accept what had to be accepted. At the end her husband cried, big tears streaking his cheeks, but she patted his hand and whispered weakly from behind her oxygen mask: “It’s okay. I’m at peace. Really.”

Prayer: Lord, thy will be done.

Today’s devotional was written by Lou Lotz, the pastoral leader of Central Reformed Church in Grand Rapids, Michigan. This Lenten series comes from Words of Hope, whose mission is to build the church in the hard places through media. To learn more about the organization or subscribe to Words of Hope’s daily devotions, visitwww.woh.org.