Watchful Waiting

My eyes strain to see your rescue, to see the truth of your promise fulfilled.

Psalm 119:123

Watch and pray. Be alert to the Spirit. Pray expectantly, vigilantly attuned to what the Spirit is showing you. Have you heard these exhortations before? In today’s verse, the psalmist uses the language of physical sight to describe his attentiveness in looking for the fulfillment of the Lord’s promise: “My eyes strain.”

The Scriptures often use the language of seeing as a metaphor for spiritual understanding. Paul wrote, “I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which [Christ] has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe” (Ephesians 1:18-19, NIV 1984).

Jesus used the language of “seeing” when he explained how he knew God’s will while in his earthly body: “I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself. He does only what he sees the Father doing. Whatever the Father does, the Son also does. For the Father loves the Son and shows him everything he is doing” (John 5:19-20). Jesus later said that he would show us everything that he is doing. All these references to seeing are describing the ability to see with spiritual eyes, to look at the earth and see the activity of God by spiritual perception.

When I was a child, every summer my whole family would pile into the car and set out on a cross-country adventure. My dad would tell us what we should be watching for. “Not long now and we’ll see mountains,” he might say. Then he would always say, “Keep your eyes peeled,” which meant, “Keep watch until what you are looking for comes into view. Don’t get distracted. Don’t lose focus.”

In the same way, God invites us to take hold of his promises, believe them, and tenaciously look for their fulfillment.

God’s promises are sure. If we keep our eyes peeled, we will see that he is always at work, always moving, always bringing his promises into our experience. When we live on the lookout for God’s activity, expecting him to fulfill his promises, our praying becomes keeping watch.

Father, teach me how to keep my eyes peeled so that I see you at work.

Hope is patiently waiting expectantly for the intangible to become reality.

Avery D. Miller