When the Waves Wake You
What is your experience with the fourth watch of the night? My experiences are not the typical ones that Roman soldiers or fishermen had in the first century. The Romans divided the night into four watches. Six to nine p.m., nine to twelve a.m., twelve to three a.m., and the fourth watch was three to six a.m.
My experience with these four watches of the night has more to do with work, sleep, and children’s sleep schedules. I used to keep home from work in the first watch, try to spend some time with family and get to bed in the second watch, sleep soundly in the third watch, and get up to start over in the fourth watch. My stress levels at the time determined how much stirring I had in the various watches of the night.
But as I have thought about it and checked with some friends, we are often more restless in the fourth watch of the night. Sure, it could be related to aging and physical changes we experience, but I have discovered that in some church traditions there is a belief that it is in the fourth watch of the night when God somehow and sometimes brings important things to mind. Looking back at the last few years of my life, I have observed that I often woke up with issues and concerns about people in the hours between three and six. Sometimes I would simply pray and fall back to sleep, and many times after light sleep, I found myself up and thinking about and praying for these situations.
I got to thinking about this as I read the story of Jesus walking on the water. Matthew 14:25 includes the little detail that this incident happened in the fourth watch of the night. Matthew doesn’t specify in chapter 14 what was happening in the other watches of the night, but we can make some reasonable assumptions. It was probably in the first watch of the night that Jesus fed the 5,000. Matthew does say that when evening came and they were in a desolate place, Jesus told his disciples they needed to give the people something to eat.
We can imagine the crowds were sent home towards the end of the first watch and beginning of the second. Jesus then told the disciples to get in their boats and go to the other side. He dismissed the crowds and headed to the mountains to pray. This is likely the second watch of the night. I suspect many of us say a prayer in the second watch as we get ready for sleep.
On this particular night, the disciples were busy working against the wind and the waves when the fourth watch came. Maybe the waters weren’t rough in the third watch, and they caught some rest. Maybe Jesus prayed and took a nap before he headed out on the water. Maybe Jesus and his disciples stayed up all night because sometimes life happens, and we have to pull an all-nighter
We have some missing pieces in this story, but we do know that it was in the wee hours of the morning when Jesus was seen by the disciples as he was walking on the water. And what did they think when they saw him? Well at first, they thought the worst: that it was a ghost! Sometimes in the fourth watch of the night, we might awaken and think the worst of our various concerns and challenges.
Sensing the fear in the disciples, Jesus responded, “Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid.” We likely need to hear these words in the middle of our stress as well. These words are recorded for our benefit, just as they were spoken to the disciples to help calm their anxious moments.
Peter pushed, as he often did, and said to Jesus that if it really was him then he should call Peter to walk out to him. Don’t we sometimes do the same? We want Jesus to prove to us that he is really there. We want assurance before we take the step of faith to fully trust that he is with us, hears us, and will answer us in our time of need.
Peter took some steps, but then his fear increased as his awareness of the waves and wind surrounded him. Jesus, of course, responded with compassion but included a teaching moment when he told Peter that he was not fully exercising trust in the Lord.
I guess whether in the fourth watch of the night or when we are fully awake in the middle of the day, when we feel the stress and anxiety rising, we would do well to exercise our faith and call out to Jesus and hear his words back to us saying, “Take heart, I am with you, do not be afraid.” We can get through the wind and waves and hard work when we trust fully that Jesus is with us!
Father, we acknowledge that we have moments of doubt and fear in the middle of our struggles. Increase our faith as we call out to you, trusting that in any and every moment you will come to us. We love you and thank you for abiding with us. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Your Time with God’s Word
Matthew 14:22-33 ESV
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