An old watch maker was summoned to the home of a dear friend. The friend’s son was very sick and the friend wanted company. In the early evening, the doctor came out and told them that the boy’s fever was severe. If the fever broke before midnight, then the boy would probably live. If not…

After the watch maker had been asked the time on multiple occasions, he gave his pocket watch to his friend. Every few minutes, the friend would check the watch and then snap it shut angrily. Few words were spoken. As the dread hour approached, the checking got more frequent, the snapping more angry.

Shortly before midnight, the doctor came out of the boy’s room. He was tired. He wiped his glasses and then he smiled. The fever had broken. The friends hugged. The watch was given as a celebratory gift. The watch maker went home.

Days later, the friend came by to see the watch maker. The watch never seemed to keep the right time. The watch maker adjusted the springs slightly and sent it back. Three times it came back and three times the watch maker looked at it, but could find nothing wrong.

The fourth time the watch came back, the watch maker knew that the problem was not with the watch. He set the watch to the time they found out that the son would live and then fixed it their permanently. He attached a note for his friend.

“My dear friend, I have checked this watched many times and am convinced the problem lies not with the watch, but with your perception of the watch. Every time you checked it that night, you ascribed to the watch the power to save your son. That power never lay with the watch. The watch was only telling you the time, but you asked the question so much, you began to feel the watch was refusing your request. Now every time you look at it, you remember one of those times when you did not get the answer you wanted. I want my gift to you to be a good one, so I have now fixed your watch so that every time you look at it, you will remember God’s answered prayer. From now on, every time you look at it, it will be the right time for God to intervene.”