A pastor once told me about his job on a Navy ship in Europe—to stand night duty at port side. Sounds easy, right? But his job was to stand in the darkness from

midnight until 5:00 a.m. staring into the vast nothingness. His job was to watch for anything out of the ordinary. He would stand guard for hours in the black silence, watching for change.

Habakkuk stood guard. He was in turmoil over his land, so he decided to stand guard and wait for a voice from the Lord. He was looking for change. I wonder how long or how often Habakkuk stood guard, staring into the vast darkness, waiting on the Lord. I wonder what kind of determination it took to stand still in the midst of turmoil, waiting for a message from the Lord.

In the next few days, take some time and find a dark, quiet place—maybe in your own backyard. In the quietness of the night, stand guard and ask God to speak to you. Too often we read our Bibles, pray, and rush off to start our day. But sometimes when we are finished, God isn’t. He may have something He wants to do in our lives, our families, or our teams. We need to listen for His direction. He has a plan for each of us. We need to become quiet and listen for that plan. Try standing guard for two hours. Stand and wait for the Lord. Look to see what He will say to you.