Watch
On February 17, 2021 by Keturah HaferkampAll the watching and waiting of quarantine has brought us to this moment. Today we take COVID test #6.
Today arrived faster than it did last time. Praise God for the people praying for our family. The time has passed so quickly. Please keep praying this test is not as harsh. Healthcare workers here seem young, inexperienced and unnecessarily harsh. We are praying for mercy.
💛
Psalm 130 is one I preferred to skip when I was younger. I remember when it first sat with me and I stayed still with it.
When I returned to the USA several years ago my children were toddlers. I had to leave them in Korea and travel alone, live with friends while I worked; set up house and wait to earn enough to bring my family to join me. That remains the hardest thing I have ever done.
Psalm 130 was my bedfellow. It got me past 2am every night and into the dawn. That refrain
more than the watchmen wait for the morning
more than the watchmen wait for the morning
was life to me. Because I knew already about how vain it was to go to bed early and stay up late eating the bread of anxious toil. I knew that churning over my life circumstances would not do anything for me besides ruin my sleep patterns. But waiting for God could make me strong to endure. And it did.
The watchmen stay awake. It’s their job to provide protection to a city by heralding alarm at any sign of invasion. Their job is to stay alert, quietly watching and waiting. When day came, their watch could end. Because taking a city in broad daylight isn’t nearly as easy, day brought relief. The watchmen waited for the morning.
I imagine that kind of ready watchfulness is intense. I’ve heard of elderly spouses staying watchful at their partners bedside, waiting. When Death finally comes they stop keeping watch and sometimes die too. Like watchmen wait, they wait. For life or for death we wait. We wait for the morning; we wait for invasion. We wait for night to pass; to be reunited with family again; we wait for pandemics to end. We don’t know what will come.
I certainly didn’t. Would I ever see my family again? How could I know that answer?
Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord!
O Lord, hear my voice!
Let your ears be attentive
to the voice of my pleas for mercy!
We wait for the dawn of a new day and the promise of newness that comes with it. But it is not relief we are waiting for. One anxiety will always give way to another. There is always more to worry about.
For with the Lord there is steadfast love and with him is plentiful redemption.
Praying for some negative results! I’ve never prayed for so much negativity in all my life 🙃