The issue of sleep has been approached by many in different ways, with countless views and opinions. I have read  opinions where sleep is the golden ticket and also of opinions where regular recommended hours of sleep is considered,  “sleeping your life away.”

I am no medical expert, so you will not be getting any statistics of physiology in regards to sleep today, but  I  will be looking at sleep from a bible point of view.

It’s useless to rise early and go to bed late and work your worried fingers to the bone. Don’t you know he enjoys giving rest to those he loves?
Psalm 127:2 MSG

Now, this passage can be looked at in more than one way: God providing for those who trust Him ( which may not necessarily be about sleep but about trust), or it really could be talking about sleep as some translations put it.

No matter your point of view, one common factor in sleep is whether the eyes are open or closed is the factor of rest. You can not truly say you have had sleep if that sleep wasn’t restful.  It may have taken 4 hours or 9 hours, but it doesn’t really make a difference.
Good sleep is when your mind and body have had rest!

I have been in bed with my eyes closed for 8 hours and woken up so sore, grumpy and tired, and I have also gone to bed for 4 hours and woken up, ready to take the world!
The difference between both times is that in one, I had a good sleep and the one I was sleeping for the sake of it.
From the beginning,  God mirrored rest to humanity by taking a day off (Genesis 2: 2-3 ). He literally set a whole day apart just to rest! Imagine that!

This is God who didn’t need rest to be able to reset, yet devoted a day for it! I think that says a whole lot to people who push themselves and everyone around them like clock work. YOU NEED REST!
Further to devoting a day to rest, God made the earth function as day and night. If we were meant to go on like  machines , we would only have day, no need for night.
In Genesis 1:5 , God set in motion the concept of day and night, evening and morning to show us the balance of life on earth :  Life consists of a balance of both hardwork and rest.
For today’s blog, we are focused on the part of rest.

A good sleep is a gift from God, and, like all gifts, it is only beneficial when it is put to use. The ability to sleep well is connected to the willingness to trust. Dare I say that there are people who may have never experienced what a good night’s sleep is because of their inability to let go and trust.

They try to be in control of everything and work themselves to exhaustion so that when they sleep, their bodies  are completely wiped out, yet their brains and minds never go to sleep. Others may not have physically demanding jobs but carry weights as heavy as the world on their shoulders, thus keeping their minds and bodies in a constant state of anxiety that insomnia becomes a part of their lives.

Proverbs 3:24 has a solution to that:
When you lie down, you will not be afraid; Yes, you will lie down, and your sleep will be sweet.

How do you get to  the point of lying down unafraid and having sweet sleep? By paying attention to what the word of God is saying. 

By recognising that good sleep comes from having hope. Christ in you is your greatest hope in life, and learning to lean on and trust Him is a good remedy for sleep, and the body and mind that sleeps well is the one that is more productive.

Every blessing

Kingdom