The Student Who Kept Waking Up

Marcus Thompson was a sophomore at the University of Georgia when he started waking at three in the morning, three nights running. Each time, the same thought pressed into his mind: the Henderson family back in Macon, their eight-year-old son Caleb fighting leukemia. Marcus would roll over, check his phone, chalk it up to stress, and force himself back to sleep.

On the fourth morning, groggy over coffee at the campus ministry house, he mentioned it to Pastor Linda Graves. "I think something's off with my sleep," he said. She set down her mug. "Tell me exactly what happens when you wake up."

He described it — the sudden alertness, the Hendersons flooding his thoughts, the weight on his chest. Pastor Linda leaned forward. "That's not insomnia," she said quietly. "That's intercession. God is waking you up to pray."

Marcus sat still. He had never considered that the voice pulling him from sleep wasn't anxiety but invitation. That night, when his eyes opened at three, he didn't reach for his phone. He slid to his knees beside his dorm bed and whispered, "All right, Lord. I'm listening."

Samuel heard his name three times in the dark and ran to Eli, certain the old priest was calling. It took a mentor to say, "This isn't me — this is God." Sometimes the Almighty speaks in a voice so familiar we mistake it for our own restless thoughts. We need an Eli to help us recognize the call — and the courage to answer, "Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening."