As the Watch Ticks

 

Remember that antique pendant watch we saw as a visual reminder of waiting on God at our Women’s Retreat? You can actually hear it tick, unlike modern watches. When I hear it tick, it reminds me of time passing, sometimes, so slowly.

Let me take you back to Psalm 37. David, the Psalm writer, doesn’t even mention the word “wait” until verse 34, but every verse reverberates with the ticking of the watch. And, the whole psalm is filled with antidotes to the long wait: words such as

• “do not fret”
  
  
• “trust”
  
  
• “commit your way”
  
  
• “be still”
  
  
• “refrain from anger”
  
  
• “a little while” and
  
  
• “turn from evil and do good”

Each one offers very good advice! But each one can be described as “Easy to say—hard to do!”

As I read this passage, the verses that absolutely pop out for me are verses 3 and 4:

“Trust in the Lord and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture [cultivate faithfulness]. Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart.”

God doesn’t just want us to sit listening to our watch tick the hours and days and even years away. He wants us to be constructive for Him. Sometimes He shows us something to do we hardly feel qualified or “called” to do.

Sometimes we find joy in this kind of new endeavor that we could not have imagined. As Christian writer Holly Furtick has said,

“What seems to you like a pointless or even painful ‘waiting room’ may be God’s most productive workroom.” ¹

Remember that antique watch? It seemed to always need winding. I find that the best way to keep it running well is to wind it at the same time every day.

We should do the same too. While the time ticks away, we need to spend time in prayer every day about that thing for which we wait.

And soon, with the Psalmist, we can cry:

“I waited patiently for the Lord; he turned to me and heard my cry.” (Psalm 40:1)

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¹ from Furtick, Holly. Blog: “The Preacher’s Wife”
Holly Furtick is the wife of Pastor Steven Furtick, the founding pastor of the Charlotte, North Carolina’s Elevation Church. Holly is the mother of three young children.