I have.
I've stared at an analog clock many times, mostly when I was a child and I was supposed to be napping. My mother had a very old fashioned wind-up alarm clock. I remember taking naps on her bed and staring at it. It would tick so loudly and I would wonder what made it tick. How did the hands go around? Why and how was I able to move the hands just by turning the little knobs on the back? A clockmaker would know. But not me. So I resigned myself to being content with listening to the tick, using it to tell time, and lull me to sleep.
When I was at the woman's retreat this weekend I was so incredibly moved by what I saw on Saturday night. And when the service was over, everything inside of me wanted to record every moment of what I saw on paper. This is the result of that night and the reason I bring up that clock.
Something truly amazing happened on Saturday. I watched as people slowly, cautiously, made their way down to the floor after service ended. They were called to step out and receive prayer if they felt they needed it. About 5 or 6 made the first, timid step out of their seats and then a few others followed. The rest of us did what usually happens in church at this time, we sang. We sang choruses about Jesus being the center, about chains being broken, etc. But then something truly astounding began to happen. I saw a person in front of me leave their seat to cross the room and pray for another person. The person they were praying for broke down in tears. Then the prayer ended. The person dried their eyes and turned and prayed for another person near them. It was like a stream or a waterfall trickling through. On and on it went, from one person to the next. And on and on. Its not like it went in order. There was no "turn and pray for your neighbor" order to it. Its just when one person was done being prayed for they were at peace and ready to cross the room and pray for someone else. I had heard many times 2Corinthians 1:4 which says that 'who comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.' But this was the first time in my life I truly saw it in action. To me it all goes back to the clock. I know I receive comfort and peace from God and that it sometimes comes from others but I don't know how it all works. I figured that it was just a mystery of God, the clockmaker. Surely he is the only one that understands the mystery of his love. But on Saturday I got to see the inner workings of the clock. I got to see the gears turning to make other gears turn, all the pieces working together to make the rhythmic tick that brings peace and comfort and rest. There was not one woman untouched in that room. Even the people that usually only pray for others were being prayed for. Everyone just seemed so REAL in that room. There was no mask, no masquerade. The truth that night was that we are all hurting in some way and we all need God! And all of us received him in abundance. The secret was we let the Holy Spirit use us! Each person that received prayer turned and prayed for another. No one told them to do that! That was God! That was the clockmaker using the pieces to make it all work. To bring peace and comfort. To bring healing. As things died down I was so ready to write and then sleep. The peace I felt made me sleep like a rock!
On Sunday we sang, "There's an army rising up! There's an army rising up! We are that army rising up! To break every chain, to break every chain, to break every chain!" How true is that ladies?!? We are rising up. We are making the decision to be obedient to God. Its not enough to always be the one to pray for others or to be the one to always get prayed for. We have to do our job inside that clock. We have to turn and let the healing flow from us to the next person. And on and on. And as we do this, we are breaking chains. The chains of unforgiveness, of bitterness, of iniquities that have been holding us down. God truly does use us and work through us. Each one of us is important and each of us struggles with the same things. I want to thank all of you who were there that night. Thank you for being so transparent. Thank you for your struggles and your strength. I know its strength from God himself. I saw it. It was beautiful. He is beautiful. And you, my Grace friends are beautiful. Lets keep this clock going ladies. Don't let your gears stop moving. Lets keep ticking!
Your sister in Christ,
Keri Reynolds
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