Watching & Waiting

When history looks back on Covid-19 one of the benefits may be that the world learned to slow down, to take stock of what we value most. Prior to lockdown, for the past decade or two, it seems as if we were beginning to spin increasingly out of control – the relentless demand for progress knew no bounds and instant gratification became the order of the day. Ever faster results were being required in all areas of society: demands for greater profits, better assessments, high speed outcomes, relentless expectations for success… a MacDonalds culture, where instantaneous gratification became more important than longer term quality. The world, it seems, had forgotten how to watch and wait. Then Coronavirus came along, and we all found ourselves with time: time to rethink our values, our norms, our expectations.

During my National Service in the South African Defense Force in 1990, one of our basic training requirements was standing as sentries, guards, watchmen. We would be taken to various locations in and around our base in Oudtshoorn, which is a small Little Karoo town nestled between two mountain ranges, the Swartberg to the north and the Outeniqua to the south. Famous for its ostriches and its Cango Caves, it is a pleasant town to visit . It is hot by day and freezing by night, so guard duty presented its own challenges – simply getting through, especially in the last few hours before sunrise, was an achievement in itself. Getting caught away from one’s post sheltering in the warmth, or worse, falling asleep, did not bear thinking about, so we toughed it out. Those hours never seemed to end, but we learned discipline, we learned patience and we learned to value waiting for the dawn… our reward was some of the most stunning sunrises ever known to man, as the rays peeked over the escarpment and kissed the frosted ground. Then it was back to base, where ‘normal duty’ somehow seemed better for it.

Psalm 130 records, also, the value of watching and waiting. The penitent writer recognises that our God is a patient, forgiving God and that we, in turn, must wait for His release from our iniquities:

“If you, LORD, kept a record of sins,
Lord, who could stand?
But with you there is forgiveness,
so that we can, with reverence, serve you.
I wait for the LORD, my whole being waits,
and in his word I put my hope.
I wait for the Lord
more than watchmen wait for the morning,
more than watchmen wait for the morning.” (Verses 3-6)

The psalmist ends with an encouragement to His people that God will not fail them, that the dawn will come, that forgiveness will be theirs because of His unfailing love.

And so it is with us. Though we may be in the grips of the Covid night cold, the dawn will come. In the army, standing watch alone, I would try to find ways to keep warm ‘with my whole being’: that meant moving on the spot, scanning with my eyes, singing under my breath, blowing frosted air, thinking about Linda and, whenever fear set in, praying. Reading was not an option on guard but is is with us now and the psalmist gives us the advice we need to press on through the night until sunrise: wait on the Lord, with our whole being, and place our hope in His Word.

Waiting with our whole being means placing our full trust in God, not in man: praying and praising Him, moving to His rhythm, breathing His Spirit. God will never leave us, abandon us, forsake us… let us place our full hope in Him, be warmed by the encouragement provided to us through His Word, and let us watch and wait to see His glory revealed. Moreover, when we return to our new ‘normal duty’, let us remember the lessons learned in this season, and serve the Lord, and the world, ‘with reverence’.

Amen ❤️🙏