Desperate

 May 13, 2023

The cold cut through me like a knife as I lay in my sleeping bag trying to get warm. An insulated pad was beneath me, I was wearing sweatshirt, jeans, and socks; but the cold was unrelenting, seeping through the layers as I shivered through the night. Sleep came fitfully, and each time I woke, I stared into the darkness, desperately praying that this time I would see the first hints of dawn.

It was more than thirty years ago. My sons and I were canoeing in Algonquin Park four hours north of Toronto. September in Algonquin can surprise you, and though we expected things to be a bit frosty, we hadn’t counted on overnight snow. Never have I been so glad to see morning finally dawn.

“My soul waits for the LORD more than those who watch for the morning.”       

—Psalm 130:6 

I know what it’s like to watch for the morning. I’m ashamed to admit that I can’t say the same about watching for the Lord. Other than the night I learned my son Nathan had a bleed and tumors in his brain, I can’t remember the last time sleep refused to come because I was so desperate for God. 

In 2003, I met Tsogoo, a young man from Mongolia who headed up the work of Every Home for Christ in his country. Twice I had the privilege of accompanying him and his team as they went our onto the steppes to bring the Gospel to their nomadic countrymen. Shortly after my second trip to Mongolia, Tsogoo decided to come to the USA to attend seminary. While here, he began working with the ex-pat Mongolians in California, and confided in me how much harder it was to evangelize here than back home. I wasn’t surprised. Here in the States, we have everything we need; we don’t lack for food, transportation, medicines, or even the luxuries of this world. He would talk with people about Jesus, and their response was, “We have everything we need; why would we want Jesus?” One of his co-workers who stayed behind is still traveling the country telling people about Jesus, with great success. When even the necessities are lacking, the Gospel is good news, indeed, especially when accompanied with tangibles like food, clothing, and medical help.

My Cuban friends understand this very well. Christians there regularly pray long into the night, accompanied by fasting, as they seek the face of Christ in the midst of hyper-inflation, shortages of basic necessities, and an infrastructure teetering on collapse. 

“My soul waits for the LORD more than those who watch for the morning.” I remember anxiously watching for the morning those years ago. May we learn the power of desperate  watching prayer for ourselves, our families, our neighbors, our churches, and our country, that the Lord would visit us with salvation and healing to the glory of his name.