During my years in Africa, I came to know many watchmen. In each home I lived, there was always a watchmen standing guard during the night. Yacob, Mosie, Inussa, and Pierre were those I knew best. Often I would step out of my home at night and go talk to them. Night watchmen have their own special kind of wisdom. They have lots of time to reflect, lots of time to wonder. Some watchmen were not very helpful. These men would sleep easily and soundly, not even hearing someone knocking at the gate. One used come running to me in fear, as if I were actually his watchman. Yet others were quite skilled at their job, even enjoyed their work. Those watchmen had eyes for the darkness. They saw every little thing that happened, every bird or animal that moved, let alone every person that should or shouldn’t have been there. They also knew the night skies, every star in its place, where the moon would rise or set, and when. Their ears could discern between what they knew, and what was new. They recognized creatures by their voices. They had a keen sense of what was right in the darkness. And out of this sense, out of their alertness, they waited for the morning. Not in fear of what might happen, but rather in a calm expectancy.
One of the lessons I am learning, is that it is a good thing to be keenly aware of God – through His Word, through others, through creation, through experience, through music and art, the written word and so much more. God comes to us through all of our senses, if we’re looking for Him. I have learned to look for Him in my everyday happenings, whether routine or unexpected. And the closer I look, the more I see Him, the more I hear and feel Him, the more I recognize His hand at work. I also have come to look for Him in the “depth” Because just as the watchman develops the skill of knowing what is right in the darkness, I too am learning to see what is “right” in my dark times, when I am in “the depth”. Not because things are going well. Rather because God is always present, even in “the depth”; even in the darkness.
May He reveal Himself to each of us through new and unexpected ways, bringing to us that calm expectancy – even in the darkness - that comes from our Hope, that is Jesus Christ.
Caryl Weinberg
Mission Council
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