The Watcher

^"1 I lift up my eyes to the hills—
where does my help come from?

² My help comes from the LORD,
the Maker of heaven and earth.

³ He will not let your foot slip—
he who watches over you will not slumber;

⁴ indeed, he who watches over Israel
will neither slumber nor sleep.

⁵ The LORD watches over you—
the LORD is your shade at your right hand;

⁶ the sun will not harm you by day,
nor the moon by night.

⁷ The LORD will keep you from all harm—
he will watch over your life;

⁸ the LORD will watch over your coming and going
both now and forevermore." Psalm 121

When I think of a watchman, I think of a sentry. I think all kinds of fun scenarios all at the same time. I think back to the days of kings, and of the two knights posted at the kings bedchamber, alert and ready to prevent anyone from disturbing the king. I think of a critical situation, like a group of men surviving in a dangerous forest environment, so they take turns standing watch as the hours slowly tick by. I also think of a military situation- perhaps of a bodyguard, always at the ready, or of the Secret Service, always alert and watchful over the president and his family.

God is our watchman. He watches over us day and night, and unlike all the watchmen and sentries preciously mention, our God is unique. Men need to take a break- they need to rest, and sleep and re-charge. Men need to give their alert minds a rest in order to remain on guard for such a long period of time. But God needs no rest. He needs no refreshing, and he is ALWAYS on guard over us, watching over us.

We saw this very thing last week, as a pair of deer launched themselves out onto the road directly in front of our 55-mile and hour van. We missed the first, but slammed right into the second. We hit it dead center, and then ran it over. God most definitely had his hand in the whole affair, because the deer we actually hit was very small, and did very little damage. While there are a few things that will need to be replaced, for the most part, right now, our van is completely drive able. No one was hurt in the hitting of the deer in any way, we just sort of hit it and moved on after a thorough examination of the vehicle. After talking to our mechanic, we also learned that it was truly amazing that our airbags didn't deploy- and that would have rendered the van undriveable, and would cost us thousands of dollars to have them replaced. God had his eye on us the whole time, and while we certainly didn't see that right away, we certainly see it now.

I also know, with all my heart, that God keeps an eye on us when we cannot keep our eyes open. In the wee hours of the night, God watches over my sleeping babes while I also get some much needed rest. I have nothing to fear, because when I am needed, I know that God will wake me. I like to think, when I go to sleep at night, and when I say goodnight to God and close my eyes, that God pushes a button of sorts, and a force-field extends over the household, keeping all who sleep within safe and under his protection. It's one of those silly images that just makes me smile to think about it.

And God knows when we need Him.

"Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need." Hebrews 4:16

He knows exactly what we need, and when we need it, and sometimes as he watches us, all He's waiting for is for us to ask for help.

"If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him." James 1:5

I know I've asked for help many times over, and while that help almost never comes in a way I expect, it still comes, in a way that only God can put together. Only God would put the right pieces into your life at the right time.

Saturday is the perfect example. It was a busy day, we're having a rummage sale this week, so this past weekend we spent a lot of time working on getting it together, in case Andy ended up out of town this week and couldn't help me. Then in the middle of the day I had to go do something I didn't particularly want to do, and then I was trying to wrap my mind around figuring out something to make for dinner. For some reason, that simple thing of needing to put dinner on the table during a busy day was just putting the tip on the stress iceberg for me. So what did God do? He had some dear friends call us up and invite themselves over for dinner- but they would bring the dinner. How wonderful us that? So not only did I not have to worry a smidge about what was for dinner, but I also came home from an unpleasant situation to find that God had showed up in my home in the form of wonderful fellowship. We finished up a busy day in a wonderful manner.

God knows what we need. He is our watcher, he watches over us day and night, all the time. That can be such a comfort in times of need, and it can also be a great reminder when we are not going through a time of need. The Lord will keep us from harm and keep watch over us both now and evermore. What a great thought to start the day with!