Interpreting Tears

He said to the crowd: “When you see a cloud rising in the west, immediately you say, ‘It’s going to rain,’ and it does. And when the south wind blows, you say, ‘It’s going to be hot,’ and it is. Hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of the earth and the sky. How is it that you don’t know how to interpret this present time [kairos]?”
- Luke 5:54-56

Jesus is always pushing people to pay attention. “Pay attention to your lives,” he says over and over again, “because you might just sense where God is at work.” We’re a lot better at guessing the weather or our boss’s mood or our grade on the test than we are at guessing what God is up to. Perhaps that’s because we pay so little attention to the telltale signs. Pastor Frederick Buechner suggests that one such sign is always worth noting: “Whenever you find tears in your eyes, especially unexpected tears, it is well to pay the closest attention.”

When’s the last time you found tears in your eyes? Do you know why they were there? What were they highlighting about your life? What were they saying about God’s activity? Ponder these things today, trying to get better at interpreting the kairos moments when God is speaking in those subtle but important ways.