ONE day three angels looked over the walls of heaven. They saw this beautiful world, and they wondered why God made the world so large. They decided to find out a few things about this world.
First, the angels decided to count the stars. They knew that it was a mighty big job, but they began to count. Every night for weeks and weeks, the angels climbed the clouds and counted stars. Big stars! Little stars! Bright stars! Twinkling stars! The angels counted them all. They were very careful, because they did not want to miss a single star. At last, their work was finished. The angels had counted every star. And how many stars do you think they found? Well, the angels found 372,941 stars in the sky.
Just as soon as the angels had counted the stars, they hurried back to heaven. They told God that they had counted 372,941 stars in the sky. God smiled at the angels.
“My friends,” said God to the angels, “I have placed thousands of stars in the sky. I alone know how many there are. You have tried to count My stars, but you have not counted them all. You must have skipped some of My stars.”
Of course, the angels were disappointed. They thought for a long, long time.
“Let’s count the rivers of the world,” said the youngest angel of the three.
The other two angels thought that it was a fine idea.
So, the angels began to count rivers. Oh, the angels found so many rivers. Why, they found rivers in every country of the world. They found long rivers and short rivers. They found green rivers, black rivers, red rivers, blue rivers, yellow rivers. They found rivers near the mountains, rivers in the country, rivers flowing through cities. And the angels counted every river they found. How many rivers did they find? Well, they found 17,387 rivers in this world.
Now the angels thought that God would be happy to know how many rivers there are in this world. But when the angels told God, He only smiled. God told the angels that they had counted well, but they had not counted all the rivers of the world. Again, the angels were disappointed. After all their counting they had the wrong number. The angels begged God to tell them the right number of rivers in the world, but God only smiled.
Finally, the angels decided to count the people the world. They decided to be very careful and skip no one. Well, they were careful. They were very, very careful. The angels visited every city and every town. They visited every country, every land, every island. They went to India, Africa, China. Yes, they went everywhere. The angels counted white people, black people, red people, brown people, and yellow people. They tried not to skip a single person. Old people, young people, boys and girls, little babies – all were placed on the angels’ lists. Well, when the angels had added their lists, they had counted 1,254,645,324 people living on this earth.
Then the angels hurried back to God. They told God that they had counted all the people on this earth. When God heard the number, He laughed.
“Yes,” said God, “and there are many more people on the earth. Did you forget to count the old man who lives on the mountain in Asia? Did you meet the little girl who lives in a cellar in Chicago? What about the man and his wife who live in a barn in Georgia? Did you count them? No, my friends, you have not counted all the people who live on the earth.”
The angels were sad and disappointed. They wondered that God knew so much. As the angels turned away, God smiled, and God kept His secret.
Yes, children, God has a secret. It’s a mighty big secret too. God knows all things. God alone knows how many stars are in the sky, because He made the stars. God knows the number of rivers, because He made the rivers. God knows the number of people in this world, because He made every person in this world. God knows where the stars are, even when they hide behind the clouds. God knows where the rivers are, even though they run behind the mountains. Yes, and God knows you. God knows where you are every minute of the day.
God knows your name. The color of your hair and the color of your eyes… Where you live… How tall you are… How old you are… How good you are… How bad you are… God knows everything. God knows everything about everybody. God never sleeps. He is always watching you. You can never, never hide from God. You can never do anything behind God’s back. Everything you do, you do before the Eyes of God! And the EYES OF GOD ARE NEVER SHUT!
Angel Food for Boys and Girls Volume II
by Rev. Gerald T. Brennan 1898-1962