A little girl named Mary was in bed one night preparing for lights-outs. Prayers had been said and Mom had hugged her. Perhaps in a effort to put-off sleeptime, Mary asked her mother why God created night-time. “Why didn’t he make it daytime all the time?”

Her mother mumbled something about how it’s easier to sleep in the dark and we all need rest, but Mary interrupted her saying, “Oh, I know why it gets dark at night; that’s when God puts the world into his pocket!”

What a profound statement of faith! What a wonderful attitude to take to bed, to believe that even as we sleep, the one who loves us more than we can comprehend has us securely in his pocket. Theologians write big books about faith, but Mary mastered it with beautiful simplicity. (Bill Bouknight, “Just a Thought”)


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About The Author

Michael Duduit is the founding publisher and editor of Preaching magazine. He is also the founding Dean of the new College of Christian Studies and Professor of Christian Ministry at Anderson University in Anderson, South Carolina. Michael is author and editor of several books, including the Handbook of Contemporary Preaching (Broadman & Holman Press), Joy in Ministry (Baker Books), Preaching With Power (Baker) and Communicate With Power (Baker). From 1996 until 2000 he served as editor of the Abingdon Preaching Annual series. His email newsletter, PreachingNow, is read each week by more than 40,000 pastors and church leaders in the U.S. and around the world. He is founder and director of the National Conference on Preaching and the International Congress on Preaching, which has been held in 1997 at Westminster Chapel in London, 2002 at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland, and 2007at Cambridge. He has been a pastor and associate pastor, has served a number of churches as interim pastor, and speaks regularly for churches, colleges and conferences.

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