When is fourth watch of the night

A day in eternity, where he lives, is as long as a thousand years but a thousand years is as short as a day. Such hard news to see all at once, and we do feel so helpless to do anything. So we cry out to the Lord, a God of mercy to be present in the midst of the pain and grief and suffering that seems so unending. In the meantime we do what we can which for many of us is just to keep on praying. Beautiffully expressed scriptural lesson for these recent events and these times.

Uplifting, hopeful and Spirit-filled. Blessings and thanks. You are commenting using your WordPress. You are commenting using your Google account. You are commenting using your Twitter account. You are commenting using your Facebook account. Notify me of new comments via email. Notify me of new posts via email. Sunday, December 11 — At least dead when church in Nigeria collapses. Until Jesus came and spoke words that calmed the sea. Share on your favorite social media platform:. Like this: Like Loading God knows what is going on all the time, and He tells us in these times of trouble, Psalm Be still and know that I am God.

Isaiah Still true, so timely… We must live in light of eternity! This was very insightful for me in a personal light. Thank you! The Reason? I believe we have just intered into the forth watch, Like Like. Add to the discussion Cancel reply Enter your comment here Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in:. Email required Address never made public. Name required. Follow Following. Sign me up. Already have a WordPress. Log in now. If you wish to get close to Our Lord through the pages of the Gospels, I always recommend that you try to enter in on the scene taking part as just one more person there.

In this way and I know many perfectly ordinary people who live this way you will be captivated like Mary was, who hung on every word that Jesus uttered or, like Martha, you will boldly make your worries known to him, opening your heart sincerely about them all no matter how little they may be.

We can miss our encounter with the Lord if we think that the story is only about Peter and the disciples — something distant which happened over two millennia ago. The story is meant for you and me — in the here and now! We live much of our daily life in the fourth watch of the night, at the time just before daybreak.

At the end of a night which seems it will never end. We often live in waves of struggle, filled with fear and crippled as a result — and unable to see the Lord on the horizon of hope. This story shows us how to overcome fear through faith, inviting us to live differently, to walk on the waters of daily life by dynamic, living faith. The Jewish people lived under Roman rule for so long they had adopted a number of Roman practices.

The Roman practice of dividing the night into four watches or divisions of three hours was one of those practices. This was particularly important for those engaged in nautical activity. The Fourth Watch was between 3 A. Remember the context. The disciples had returned from experiencing the miracle of the multiplication of the loaves.

They had seen the Lord take what little bread that they had, multiply it, and give it back to them — so that they could feed the crowd they had suggested be sent away. They knew he was able to work miracles. They participated by simply giving the little they had. After it was all over, they even collected up twelve baskets full! Now, Jesus wanted to pray, to commune with the Father. They only knew that they had rowed a long time, the wind remaining contrary, that they were exhausted, and that they needed help.

And immediately he talked with them, and saith unto them, Be of good cheer: it is I; be not afraid. I have a feeling that the Apostles, if they could have chosen, would have had the Lord come in an earlier watch. All right, we can accept that. And it is important for us to realize that we worship a fourth-watch God. There are a number of scriptures that help us understand that he truly is a fourth-watch God.

And she went, and sat her down over against him a good way off, as it were a bowshot: for she said, Let me not see the death of the child. And she sat over against him, and lift up her voice, and wept. And God heard the voice of the lad; and the angel of God called to Hagar out of heaven, and said unto her, What aileth thee, Hagar?

Arise, lift up the lad, and hold him in thine hand;. In 1 Kings 17, another widow, desperate in a time of famine, does not know help is just around the corner when Elijah meets her at the gate. Elijah appears just at the moment she is gathering those two pathetic tiny sticks for the last meal. As we move into the third watch we may be tempted to make some assumptions that are very dangerous and foolish to make. But he generally comes in the fourth watch—after we have done all we can do.

Get more from S. With powerful insights into why heaven can sometimes feel silent, S. Michael Wilcox explains how we can always feel and be sure of God's love, even in those times when we might not be able to feel Him close.