Like Watchmen

 

In this Covid-era world, I sat in the car in the doctor’s surgery carpark, awaiting a call from the nurse to come to the door and be admitted in for my blood test. I masked-up and awaited the call, reading a magazine.

Realising we were ten minutes late, I decided to go to the door and confirm on the intercom that I was waiting. The door slid open and two masked, gowned nurses greeted me with, ‘Are you Michele?’

Seems they had been calling, but their calls went direct to the messaging service, as though my phone were turned off. Which it wasn’t.

Technology. I don’t understand why that happened.

Sometimes when I pray, I act as though I fear my requests go to a messaging service. I repeat the request a zillion times, hoping for a call back, hoping for an answer. But God never has his ‘phone’ turned off. He doesn’t rely on nor struggle with technology. He is always available. He always responds.

But like the psalmist says (130), I often await his answers like the watchmen wait for the morning,  like the watchmen wait for the morning.

I think during these challenging pandemic days, when the politics of once-stable nations seem to have slid into the mire, many of us are awaiting his answers like watchmen waiting for the morning. There is a deep poignancy in the repetition of that phrase, a poignancy which resonates in my heart. I have committed with others to a weekly prayer and fast focusing on the November election in the USA.

Together, we are looking with hope and expectation to God. He doesn’t have his phone off. He is not looking the other way. He hears, and he answers. I am so grateful that I can, with his help, look forward in faith and not in fear.

With his help.