2 minute read
World Missions: Now I lay me down to sleep
By Pastor Todd Schierkolk
All of us who have ever had trouble sleeping at night will feel for a grade school boy experiencing the same problem. Diego began having trouble shortly after the school year started here in Mexico, and it just kept getting worse. His parents couldn’t get to the bottom of what was wrong. He wasn’t having nightmares—he just couldn’t go to sleep. He would plead with his mom to let him stay home from school. When they asked him what was wrong, he couldn’t really tell them anything. His parents finally decided to take him to the school psychologist to see if he could figure out what was going on.
We became aware of the problem soon after returning from a short trip to the U.S. for deputation. We talked to him in Sunday school and prayed for him. When I visited the family, I suggested he take the Book of Psalms and read it to himself when he went to bed. He is a good reader. He was planning on seeing the psychologist in a few days.
The following Sunday, we were anxious to find out how he was and what had happened in his visit with the psychologist. Barb asked the young boy how his meeting went. He scoffed and rolled his eyes.
“What did he tell you?” Barb asked.
“Nothing,” he said. “He just prescribed me some pills.”
Barb persisted and asked, “Well, what did you do? Did you take them?”
“No,” he said. “I just took the children’s Bible you gave me and read stories from it.”
“And were you able to sleep?” Barb asked.
“Yes, I’m sleeping fine now.”
Ha! If only it were so simple for the rest of us. But the truth remains, “He gives to his beloved sleep” (Psalm 127:2).
