A young girl was sick, very sick. She was so sick she was in hospital, and she had stayed in hospital for a long time.

She had been told that there was a great God who made the world and who knew all about everybody. She had also heard that He had even come into the world Himself just like an ordinary man and that when He did very unexpected things happened.

One unexpected thing was that He did miracles – lots of them. Nobody had ever done anything like He did. He made sick people better, made blind people see and even made a few dead people live again. Everyone was amazed at what He did.
Another unexpected thing was not so nice. The people started to hate Him and eventually they planned to kill Him. He could have stopped them but He didn’t, and they killed Him in a very horrible way.

But after they killed Him, a few days later, He was seen by lots of people very much alive again. He explained to some of them why He had let them kill Him. He said that it was necessary so that our sins could be forgiven and we could go and live with Him forever after this life is over. Not many people really understood this, but still lots of people believed Him anyway.

Now this girl that I mentioned had heard all about this, but she was very sick and wished she could go out and play like other kids, so she was not at all happy. If God was real, why didn’t He make her better? If He really knew all about her, why did He let her stay so sick? It seemed like everyone wanted her to get better quickly – except God!

But this young girl was quite wise. She knew that God knew everything and that He must care about us because of how He died. So she thought that if He is both wise and good, then He must have a reason for not making her better immediately. Maybe He would show her why, or maybe He would speak to her about it all.

So she decided to talk to Him and to ask Him to speak to her! She knew she would have to listen carefully for His voice, because He hardly ever spoke to people with a voice your ears can hear.

So from then on, in the daytime and often during the night as well, she was quiet, speaking to God about everything and listening for Him to speak to her.

As she did this she learned some special and wonderful things. I can’t tell you all the things here, but they made her smile on the inside, and sometimes even laugh on the outside! And she began even to be thankful for some of the things that had made her so upset before.

I wonder what this young girl would say to me if I was as sick as she was. Maybe if I was very sick I wouldn’t even listen to her. But would you?

(Photo courtesy of Sarah)