Know He is the Sovereign Lord

Ezekiel 30:19.
"Thus I will execute judgments on Egypt, Then they shall know that I am the Lord."

Why do we wait for God to judge our rebellious sin before we admit He is The Lord - our Lord?  When we are faced with ultimate judgement for eternity, realizing what is coming, the we accept and confess that Jesus is Lord.  But in smaller matters of sin we take longer to deal with them - do we not remember He is our Lord?  Tragedies like 9/11 brought mortality and awareness to many who seemed to talk much of God, but why has that so quickly faded?  Remembering tragedy or sin that puts eyes on God should be in our minds now and every day.