TO SLEEP OR NOT TO SLEEP

Have you ever had insomnia? If not, I trust you never experience it. I have faced some sleepless nights and it is not fun. Sleep aids have become a huge money maker for the medical industry and the pharmaceutical companies. There are sleep clinics and sleep specialists. You can find all kinds of supplements, medications, and gadgets that will help you fall asleep.

The Bible has the answers to life's challenges and has much to say about the topic of sleep. Proverbs has some really neat insight into our need for sleep and rest. Dr. Mark Swenson in his classic book, MARGIN, says this about insomnia . . . "If insomnia strikes, don't panic! It happens
to everybody from time to time, and one or two nights of sleeplessness do not constitute a crisis. What can become a crisis, however, is your REACTION to the experience.

After one or two nights of sleeplessness, a pattern develops. Annoyance turns to fear, then fear turns to panic. And nothing retards sleep like panic. Trying to force yourself to sleep is the surest way of PREVENTING sleep. A persistent pattern of insomnia sometimes begins with exactly this reaction of desperation. 'Sleep is one of the few things in life that cannot be improved upon trying harder,' explains sleep expert Dr. Peter Hauri.

If insomnia is a problem, don't stay in bed awake. Get up, sit in a comfortable chair or lie on the couch, read, write a letter, have a light snack, drink some milk, take a walk, soak in the bathtub, watch television. Don't worry. Consider turning the night into a conversation with God. Pray. Listen. Meditate. Read the Word. Begin a spiritual journal. List to Christian music. And don't forget to thank Him for the special opportunity of this time together. When tiredness begins to
overtake you, retire once again with gratitude for the double blessing of this night: that of fellowship and now that of sleep."

There are some legitimate physical and emotional reasons why some people can't sleep. If you have a persistent problem, you should seek medical attention. But I also encourage you to commit to memory (I'm working on this right now) some of the promises from God's Word about sleep. Here are several that I read in my devotional time this morning:

"I will both lie down in peace, and sleep; for YOU alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety. Because you have made the Lord, who is my refuge, even the Most High, your dwelling place, no evil shall befall you, nor shall any plague come near your dwelling; for He shall give His angels
charge over you, to keep you in all your ways. When you lie down and your sleep will be sweet. So he gives His beloved sleep." (Psalm 4:8; Psalm 9:9-11; Proverbs 3:24; Psalm 127:2)

Good words to ponder today!