Unless the Lord builds the house,
They labour in vain who build it.
Unless the Lord guards the city,
The watchman stays awake in vain.
It is vain for you rise up early,
To sit up late,
To eat the bread of sorrows.
For so He gives His beloved sleep.
Psalm 127:1-2
There is nothing more frustrating than tossing and turning in the middle of the night.
I wake up several times every night. What I do after that determines whether I’m going to stay awake, and become increasingly frustrated, or fall into a peaceful sleep.
Why does my mind begin to review the events of the day, of the week or even of long ago? Why does it wander ahead to the future – maybe worrying or simply tossing around ideas; working on plans, Whatever it is, that is where my mind goes. Usually, it turns out not to be a happy, optimistic place.
Adequate sleep is so important, yet I don’t think I am alone in this. So I would like to share what works for me.
After I wake up and my mind begins to wander, I reach for my cell phone. This sounds like the worst possible thing to do. No, I do not check my email or look at Facebook! I turn to where I have saved some Scripture verses. I turn to long passages, that are upbeat, full of promises, instruction, or praise, and I work on memorizing them. If my mind stays focused on the passage, the next thing I know I am in dreamland.
The passage above portrays a slightly different context than that of my situation, but the principle is the same. Sometimes we can make all the efforts humanly possible to solve a problem, but without God, our efforts may fail. We can try to influence our circumstances, but we can’t always control them.
Wise planning is good, but exhausting ourselves by worrying and losing sleep is counterproductive. So let’s plan well, in the daytime, PRAY, and invite God into our circumstances.
Prayer
Dear Lord, please forgive me for the times I neglect to ask You into my circumstances. Please help me to bring to You all the different challenges I face. Thank you that you have created the night as a time of rest. Please help me to get the sleep I need. Amen
In all your ways, acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths (Proverbs 3:6)
How does the contrast of running a marathon (yesterday) and sleep today sit with you?
What are the things that steal your sleep?
Are they things God has already spoken to you about?
How does getting better rest fit into your time of fasting and prayer?
Thank you for this!!! That sleep thing is a constant struggle, and it’s easy to become discouraged, or felt abandoned when God doesn’t seem to hear my cries for rest. This blessed me. so thank you !!
Thank you very much for your devotional, I can relate to it well. I too wake up out of the blue and just lie there, now I have something to go with when that happens. I like reading scripture that inspires my growth and change. Jeremiah 29: 11 is my favourite, now that’s inspiring.
Thank you again.
Thank you for sharing. A great encouragement.
This was so timely for me. I’m going to write those verses down for the next time I am up in the night 🙂