I wait for the Lord, my whole being waits,
and in his word I put my hope.
I wait for the Lord
more than watchmen wait for the morning,
more than watchmen wait for the morning.
(Psalm 130:5-6 NIV)
A Sunday School teacher brought a picture of Jesus praying in Gethsemane to the pastor. “My students said this reminded them of you,” she said.
The pastor was feeling flattered, until the teacher added, “They said Jesus must have prayed so long his disciples fell asleep, just like Pastor!”
Or course it was the middle of the night. Sleep might be expected. I used to work a job that required staying up in the wee hours. I remember the misery of staying awake when the rest of the world was snoozing. There’s no tired like 4:00am tired.
I sympathize with the guys who work third shift. So did the writer of our psalm: “I wait for the Lord with my whole being, more than watchmen wait for the morning!”
Between Easter and Christmas, our celebrations of the life and resurrec-tion of Jesus Christ, are big chunks of calendar that the church, in its ancient wisdom, calls “ordinary time.”
Interesting choice of phrase. Life can seem pretty ordinary most of the time for most of us. Sometimes life seems a little like the third shift. Even the phrase “daily routine” makes life seem boring.
Of course, life isn’t boring at all. God’s amazing creation is filled with beauty to appreciate and bounty to enjoy. Every day we walk by dozens of people, each one beloved by God and created with special gifts. How exciting if we have eyes to see and ears to hear!
The apostle Paul wrote about life in the third shift. He said, “To me, living means living for Christ, and dying is even better. If I live, I can do more fruitful work for Christ… [But] I long to go and be with Christ, which would be far better for me. But for your sakes, it is better that I continue to live.” (Philippians 1:21-24 NLT)
While we live, we always have fruitful work to do for the Lord. Even if it seems like your life is in a “third shift” stage, and you are weary and waiting, there are opportunities to praise God and pray for your neighbor, to love and serve, and to spread the Good News that the morning is near. We wait for the Lord and we hope. For we know that Christ will come again!
– Pastor Park