Dozing Off

I could barely hold my eyes open. It was a lecture about Victoria, Canada. It was the next stop on our family cruise. Now I had never been to Victoria, Canada, nor did I know anything about Victoria, Canada. You would think I would want to soak in every bit of information I could for our next stop. However, I couldn’t stay awake. I know this because my family videoed me dozing off. They have a good laugh with it now.

Sometimes it is hard to stay awake: sitting in class in school, maybe a pew at church, a boring movie, a long car ride. We’ve all had those experiences where we fought off sleep as our heads bobbed up and down and our eyelids felt like they were lined with cement. It can be a challenge to stay awake when you’re tired. And when you do doze off, you may miss something in that moment of slumber. So, if you are in the company of others, when you do wake up, you ask, “what did I miss?”

In the book of Psalms, the writer considers God’s presence in his own life. We read in Psalm 121: 3-4: “He who keeps you will not slumber. He who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.” God does not doze off. God does not tire or get sleepy. As a result, God does not miss out on our lives and our day to day experiences. Even when our days are slow and dull, God does not rest God’s eyes. The writer Job would confess, “For his eyes are upon the ways of peoples, and he sees all their steps.” (Job 34:21)

Our steps take us in many directions over the course of our lives. Likewise, some of our steps are made with joy while other steps are painful and slow. Some steps keep us close to home while others are made in distant lands. Yet, as our scripture reminds us, regardless of where our walk takes us in life, God’s eyes are upon and God eyes are always open. God never misses out.

With this good news, we can live in faith trusting that our God is never asleep on the job. Rather, God’s love for us, energizes his passion to watch over us and keep us. We are safe under the watchful care of a God who never sleeps.