“Bye bye,” repeated Ezra, waving to everyone in the room. He wasn’t leaving. He was ready for his nap. At only sixteen months, he’s adept at communicating. When he is hungry, he repeats, “Nak nak,” or he goes to the pantry and begins bringing out whatever he can reach. When he’s ready to play outside, he retrieves his shoes kept by the front door and puts them on. He has a sound for thirsty that’s impossible to spell. In fact, I can’t even pronounce it, but he’s very clear when it comes to getting his needs met.
If I’m watching closely, I can usually see nap time coming. His mom has started asking him if he is ready for his nap. When he’s unsure about whether he wants to be held or get down to play or when he’s easily frustrated trying to do something on his own, our good natured Ezra is probably just sleepy. An hour or two of rest in his darkened room does wonders for him. Wouldn’t it be great if managing cranky people were so simple? Better yet, if not only kindergarten but workplaces still had mandatory nap time?
The first question I tend to ask my girls when I chat with them each day is how the children slept. It works its way easily into conversation since there is usually evidence of the answer in the faces and the voices of mom and babies. Lack of sleep causes all sorts of problems, even literal sickness. God created young mamas to function on much less sleep in spite of the physical toll on their bodies. Having birthed three, I can attest to the fact. I thrive on nine hours of solid sleep each night. My first slept in thirty minute intervals and not nearly enough of those for the first nine months of his life yet we both survived. I remember being a light sleeper until the youngest of my three turned four years old. Something clicked and I began sleeping soundly again.
I read recently that sleep is the ultimate daily miracle, evidence of deep trust in God. When I close my eyes, I am entrusting my soul to the One who created me and sustains my life. I am trusting that when I let go, He will keep me and He will awaken me. I have to wonder whether this observation unmasks the epidemic insomnia. Many things unsettle my sleep, causing restlessness and angst. Worry, fear, preoccupation and illness top the list, but these are all part of life in a fallen world. If these were sufficient reasons for not resting then I would never sleep! So far as I know, only One never slumbers nor sleeps.
“I look up to the mountains— does my help come from there?
My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth!
He will not let you stumble; the one who watches over you will not slumber.
Indeed, he who watches over Israel never slumbers or sleeps.
The Lord himself watches over you!
The Lord stands beside you as your protective shade.
The sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon at night.
The Lord keeps you from all harm and watches over your life.
The Lord keeps watch over you as you come and go, both now and forever.”
Psalms 121:1-8 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/psa.121.1-8.NLT
God’s covering shade, reminiscent of the pillar of fire by day and cloud by night during Israel’s wilderness wandering, is repeated by Jesus in an entirely different, more intimate analogy. Feel the love and longing in His Words.
““O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones God’s messengers!
How often I have wanted to gather your children together as a hen protects her chicks beneath her wings, but you wouldn’t let me.
And now, look, your house is abandoned.
And you will never see me again until you say, ‘Blessings on the one who comes in the name of the Lord!’””
Luke 13:34-35 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/luk.13.34-35.NLT
When I was newly married, living in a new city, working the same job, taking the same types of classes, and attending church but with new people, I heard every noise in our small apartment, especially the couple arguing loudly next door. When I was expecting our first child, we moved with my husband’s job. All the same new things in addition to my husband being away several nights a week on call made sleep scarce. During those long nights as I prayed for peace and protection, for sleep to come, God gave me two passages from scripture. I have treasured them through the years, in different seasons, confident that God is faithful. Each verse provides a reminder I needed. Maybe you need to
be reminded too.
“In peace I will lie down and sleep, for you alone, O Lord, will keep me safe.”
Psalms 4:8 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/psa.4.8.NLT
“You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on you!
Trust in the Lord always, for the Lord God is the eternal Rock.”
Isaiah 26:3-4 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/isa.26.4.NLT
When our teens attended church camps or mission trips, my husband and I often chaperoned together. It was a blessing to have a front row seat to many of our kids’ spiritual growth experiences but it was also incredibly refreshing for us as a couple. Sharing dorms with hundreds of teenagers, however, meant being last to sleep and first to wake. After a week long trip where every fiber of my being was on high alert, I generally needed two weeks to recover. Having three teens at home might have allowed little time or space for rest except they needed a recovery period too. For most of my life, I have, thankfully, been a bit of a night owl. For several decades it worked in my favor.
In my mid-fifties now, I am grateful when it begins to be dark earlier. I don’t have to wonder if it’s too early to get ready for bed. My grandchildren are early risers. On Lolly sleepover nights, it’s bath and bedtime after dinner. Spending the day with my out of town daughter often means leaving before it’s light and returning after dark. On all those nights, I generally sleep well. On sleepless nights, however, nothing in my circumstances really changed and my trust in God did not wane. During the day that followed, I found I had the strength I needed to carry on.
How often am I tempted to allow doubt or cynicism to slip in unheeded where things do not go as I thought they would? Sleep is a common experience, something we all understand, a place where we can exercise faith and trust in Sovereign God together daily, a place where our faith muscles can grow stronger. God created us. He knows what we need before we ask. (Matthew 6:8) If He chooses to withhold something from us, even sleep, He has His reasons. So may your sleep be sweet, but even on those sleepless nights when our thoughts tend to roam, may we learn to know His heart so well that our thoughts center on His goodness and love as revealed in His Word and in His Son, Jesus. May His praise be ever on our lips as we cast all our cares on Him, knowing He cares for us. (I Peter 5:7)
“Your righteousness, O God, reaches to the highest heavens.
You have done such wonderful things.
Who can compare with you, O God?”
Psalms 71:19 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/psa.71.19.NLT
“O Lord, you alone are my hope.
I’ve trusted you, O Lord, from childhood.
Yes, you have been with me from birth; from my mother’s womb you have cared for me.
No wonder I am always praising you!
My life is an example to many, because you have been my strength and protection.
That is why I can never stop praising you; I declare your glory all day long.
I will tell everyone about your righteousness.
All day long I will proclaim your saving power, though I am not skilled with words.
I will praise your mighty deeds, O Sovereign Lord.
I will tell everyone that you alone are just.
O God, you have taught me from my earliest childhood, and I constantly tell others about the wonderful things you do.
Now that I am old and gray, do not abandon me, O God.
Let me proclaim your power to this new generation, your mighty miracles to all who come after me.”
Psalms 71:5-8, 15-18 NLT
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