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"If my people, who are called by name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land."

~2 Chronicles 7:14 NIV

Upon becoming king, God had granted Solomon the wisdom he had requested, and that is evident in Solomon's prayer of dedication upon the temple's completion. The king was wise; he knew his people, their propensity toward sin and evil; their tendency to ignore God during periods of prosperity and peace. But the God who created them knew them even more. Their history of vacillation between obedience and disobedience was etched in the chronicles of their existence.

In His omniscience, God laid out the conditions they must meet for Him to rescue them when they faced life's disasters and difficulties. It was as simple then as it is today: God hears and heals when we are humble, when we pray, when we seek his face and we turn from our wickedness.

There is often value in pulling away and spending time engaged in reflection and meditation. From the darkness of our sequestering, we discovered lights we might have otherwise missed.

Perhaps, in the end, we will discover what it means to be in the world, but not of it.