Not on My Watch

My precious grandmother had 10 children. I remember her prayer “God, there’s not one of my children that are too bad for Satan to have. They will all come to know you in personal way before I ever leave this earth.” Maybe that’s what took her so long to “go home”, because when she passed away at 99-1/2 years old, every one of her children had a precious relationship with God. In today’s terminology, she might have said, “Satan, NOT ON MY WATCH will you get your hands on my children!”

Someone was asking me to pray for their wayward child and I told her the story of my grandmother. I told her to stand in the gap for her child and declare “Not on my watch” to the enemy.

When the tornado was close to my home last week, and I had my granddaughter and her friend with me at my home, I thought “Not on my watch, will I put these girls in danger!” I took them across the street to a neighbor’s storm shelter. I feel that way with those that I hold near and dear to my heart. “Not on my watch – will I stop praying for them.”

What if we had that attitude about our communities, our states and our country? NOT ON MY WATCH – will the enemy continue to invade our lives. It’s time for us to arise from our slumber and complacency and take a stand for what is right in our homes and our country. God placed us here on this earth at this time for a specific purpose – to be watch-men and watch-women. God is speaking to each of us to RISE AND SHINE.

The apostle Paul wrote, “Watch, stand fast in the faith, be brave, be strong” (1 Corinthians 16:13). Paul wasn’t telling us to be passive spectators—of entertainment or anything else. He meant something far different. He meant for us to stand up and be accounted for. He meant for us to say “Not on my watch will the enemy win.”

If ever there was a time for us to resist wasting our lives away, the time is now. To waste time is to waste life. A Watchman is one who has sympathy, empathy and compassion for our fellow countrymen and for all humanity -- so much so that he or she fullfills our God-ordained responsibility to watch and pray.

The best watch-men and watch-women that we can be is a LIGHT SHINER. We must be “the light of the world” by being a godly example for others to follow (Matthew 5:14). We must go into all the world and spread the “good news” of God’s love and mercy. In such a chaotic time in our world, God is calling us with a higher calling. NOT ON MY WATCH -- will the enemy win, because if GOD BE FOR US, who can be against us!