The Watchman

There's a kind of morning person who checks the news before their feet hit the floor.

By the time the coffee is done, they already know everything that's wrong with the world.

The watchman wakes up differently.

He climbs.

In the old cities, watchmen stood on the walls before dawn. Their whole job was to see. Who was coming. What was changing. When the first light was breaking over the hills. A whole city could sleep because someone was paying attention.

Habakkuk was one of those people. Everything around him was falling apart, and he had questions for God. Big ones. So he said, in effect, I'll climb up to my post and stand on the tower, and I'll watch to see what He says.

He didn't run. He didn't panic. He lifted his eyes.

That's the part most of us skip.

We see plenty. Headlines. Bills. Notifications. Every possible thing that could go wrong by Thursday. We are very well informed and very tired.

Jesus once told a crowd they could read the sky like experts. Red sky tonight, nice day tomorrow. But they couldn't read what God was doing right in front of them.

They were watching. They just weren't seeing.

Then, on a hillside, He pointed at a few birds.

Look at them, He said. They don't plant. They don't store up. They don't lie awake running numbers. And your Father feeds them.

Not ignore your life. Look up from it.

That's what the watchman does. He isn't naive. He knows storms come. He's usually the first one to spot them. But he isn't run by them, because from up on the wall he can see something the worried crowd below can't.

The sun is coming up anyway.
God is moving anyway.
The Father who feeds sparrows hasn't lost track of you.

So the watchman keeps his post. Early. Quiet. Eyes open. Heart steady.

Alert, but not anxious.
Awake, but not afraid.

Lift your eyes. See clearly.

The Ancient Wisdom

We were made to see beyond our circumstances, notice what God is doing, and trust Him with what we can't control.

• The prophet climbed his watchtower and waited for God's answer before he spoke.
• Jesus warned that we can read the weather and still miss what God is doing.
• The birds of the air don't store up, and the Father still feeds them.
• Watchfulness and worry are not the same thing.

A Question for the Watchman

What are you watching?

Not just what you're aware of. What has your attention first thing in the morning?

Where is God already moving in your life that you've been too busy, or too worried, to notice?

Climb up. Look again. The light is already breaking.

The Coffee

Hyline is our light roast. Bright and clear, the kind of cup that's best before sunrise, when the world is quiet and you can actually see.

Flavor Notes:

• Honey
• Berries
• Bright Finish