Blessing of Sleep!
Verse for Today: Thursday, September 15, 2011
Psalms 121:4 – Behold, He who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.
Sleeplessness is considered as one of the most serious sicknesses that man is encountered with. There are so many physical and psychological reasons for man’s difficulty to sleep. God gave man the ability to sleep so that he can refresh himself and get back to his responsibilities and duties. Sleep gives rest for the body and the mind without which it is impossible to lead a healthy life. But when man becomes a slave to circumstances, things and people, and when his heart is full of anxiety, tension, stress and fear, he looses his ability to sleep. Even when the body craves for rest, the mind is not able to rest and relax which leads to insomnia. When it becomes a problem, man resorts to medicines to aid in sleeping which make him under the bondage of medicine also. But we must understand that anxiety, stress and fear that man experiences are largely due to spiritual reasons. When we are able to trust our God to look after our eternity, we should also be able to hand all our affairs and our tomorrows over to Him as well and rest. At that time, our peaceful mind will help us to sleep and forget all our burdens. When the Lord carries our burdens, why should we burden our minds with it? When we have a God who is capable of handling all our concerns far better than us, why should we keep ourselves awake, think about its possible negative outcomes and remain sleepless? There is no need for both God and us to be awake at the same time to handle our situations. Our situations are often far beyond our human capacity to handle. Our efforts to manage our present and future affairs often fail because these are far beyond our ability and intellect. Not only that, when the only person who has the capacity to manage our affairs promises that He will take care of our it, why should we both try to handle it? Why should we mess up our affairs when God can straighten it out for us?
Dear reader, are you lately experiencing difficulty to sleep? Is sleep deprivation one of your problems because of the stress, anxiety and fear that have gripped you about your future? Perhaps you are worried whether your past deeds would catch up with you! But if you have confessed your past to God, He will forgive you and forget your past. He will never dig out your buried past because He is interested in your present and future life. The consequences of your past might catch up with you, but He will give you grace to handle it without stress or fear. God can take away your fear if you confess it to Him. He will deal with the situation or object that causes you fear. He is able to relieve you of your stressful situation and give you peace and rest while He handles the causes of your stress. The Lord performs these ministries for you 24/7 while you to go to rest and sleep, and then go on to discharge your duties. There is really no reason for you and the Lord to be awake at the same time as He never sleeps nor slumbers! With this great assurance, let us today hand over our stressful, anxious and fearful situations, things, relationships and events to the Lord and take our hands off. Let us ask the Lord to give us the faith, peace and strength to trust Him to handle all our affairs which try to deprive us of sleep and rest. Each time these affairs keep coming back to ignite our emotions and memories, let us give it to the Lord. Let us repeat this exercise till our faith in the Lord will solidify and crystallize on His mighty power. After all, if we can trust the Lord with our eternity, can we not trust Him for our tomorrows? Let us today go to sleep in peace and rest in the Lord while He works for us and when we awake, let us find Him in perfect control of our situations.
Psalms 4:8 – I will lie down and sleep in peace, for You alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety.
Thought for Today
Our God who is faithful to give us eternal salvation will also give us peace and rest for daily living.
Our God who is faithful to give us eternal salvation will also give us peace and rest for daily living.
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