Does God Sleep?
Published Tue, Feb 28, 2023
Written by Jonathan Bollback
“Grandma, will they allow me to go to school?” Sany* asked, her big brown eyes looking up at her grandma. Grandma smiled down at her and drew her close. This little one loved to learn, and always wanted to learn more and more. Question after question filled her mind.
“Yes, they will, dear,” she assured her. “Poor Sany,” Grandma thought.
Life had been so unkind to this little child. Her mom and dad did not get along well. Her dad had a bad temper. If Sany’s mom did not cook food to his liking, he would yell at her, call her names and they would have a terrible fight. Sometimes it got so bad that the neighbors would come and try to calm him down.
One day Sany’s mom was trying her best to fix a delicious meal when she accidentally knocked over the little stove-fire on the shelf in their small house, and it fell on her. Her sari burst into flames. The fire spread quickly and burned her very, very badly. When the father got home, he tried his best to save her life but she died. Sadly, her father died soon after. Little Sany now had no mommy and no daddy.
Grandma loved her granddaughter but was very poor and getting quite old. Although she took Sany to live with her, she couldn’t keep up with her active little life nor could she provide for her growing needs. How hopeless she felt!
Wonderfully, one of Grandma’s neighbors told her about the Home of Hope, at the Mission. Although Grandma was not a Christian, she felt hopeful for the first time in a long time. With the aid of the neighbor, she brought Sany to the Mission.
Sany was made a part of the Rose Family. When the house-mother welcomed her, Sany jumped up into her arms! Overjoyed, the house-mother realized this tiny tot needed lots of love. “Lord,” she prayed silently in her heart, “please love Sany through me. May she understand the love and plans You have for her.”
When the youngest girl in the Flower Family saw Sany in her house-mother’s arms, she became jealous. “Who is that girl?” she asked, annoyed.
“This is Sany, your new sister!” the house-mother answered, as she gave the youngest an adoring squeeze. “You are precious to me, as you know, along with all the Roses. And now God has brought Sany into our family, too.
“We have been learning about love in our family prayer times. Remember how we’ve talked about --and read in the Bible about-- the MANY times Jesus has shown His love to us? We need to show our love for others, too, don’t we?”
A light popped on in the little girl’s memory. The house-mother could tell her attitude had changed. Immediately the young girl ran to her cupboard and pulled out her much-loved doll. She ran back and placed it on Sany’s lap.
“This is for you, Sany,” she announced.
Sany hugged the doll. She slid off the house-mother’s lap and the two little girls began to play!
“Thank You, Lord,” the house-mother prayed as her eyes filled with tears. “How much you love these precious children…and me!”
Sany named her new doll, Goodie. She loves hugging Goodie and putting her to sleep. How good it was of the youngest girl to show her love for Sany in such a special way!
Soon Sany began asking the house-mother questions, just like she did her grandma. So many things were different here at the Mission from what she was used to. She knew nothing about the Bible and nothing about Jesus. Her family had believed in a god of carved wood that was kept in a little temple near their home.
She used to watch as her father went to the small temple many mornings. He rang the bell loudly outside the door. Sany always thought the god was sleeping and needed to be wakened by the bell. Then he entered the doorway and placed rice and incense before the wooden statue. He bowed down to it.
Sany listened to the Rose Family children praying before bedtime asking Jesus, the One they called the ONLY true and living God, to watch over them during the night. She wondered if this God slept in the daytime and stayed awake at night!
“Does God sleep during the day?” Sany asked innocently one night. The children burst into laughter.
“Shuuuusssh,” the house-mother corrected. “Let Sany ask all the questions she has. We all have questions that need to be answered.
“No, Sany, the Bible tells us God never slumbers or sleeps. His eyes are always on His children. He will never leave us.”
Wow, Sany thought; this is some amazing God!
Indeed He is! Sany has much to learn, and at the Mission she will have lots of time to do so.
*Names changed for privacy and security. Images representative.
