{This post is part of my 31 Day blog series Work Hard + Rest Well: Learning Obedience in the Rhythms of Work and Rest.}
“It is in vain that you rise up early and go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil; for he gives to his beloved sleep.”
Psalm 127:2
You are His beloved.
You are loved by God.
You are chosen by God.
You are a precious to God.
So rest.
And don’t just rest, sleep.
My husband says that he hates sleeping because he always feels like he’s wasting time or missing out. I’ve been there. Maybe not as often as him, but I have. And if we’re honest, we probably all have.
We’re afraid of missing out on more money that we could earn if we work a little bit longer.
We’re afraid of missing out on the fun of just one more episode of our newest tv show.
We’re afraid of waking up to a dirty house the next morning, so we stay up and clean and scrub and tidy.
We’re afraid of missing that hang out time with friends if we leave at eight or nine instead of staying until the party is all the way over.
We’re afraid of not working hard and resting well so we stay up late and get up early and try to run on nothing…
But God gives His beloved sleep.
Sleep is a gift. Use it! Rejoice in it.
Because what I’ve been trying to say is that work is good and necessary and commanded by God and rest is good and necessary and commanded by God.
We need both.
But sleep is a vital part of rest that is so often overlooked.
We think that if we stay up later we can rest well and that if we also get up early we can work harder and we can get it all done all the time….burning the candle at both ends…
But that never works.
“What this text is trying to say is that when you get up early and stay up late, that is bad.”
Levi Lusko
God created us with a need for rest and part of that need for rest is the need for sleep. It’s not bad. Andwhether we’re morning people or night people it is something we all share in common.
We need sleep.
And sleep is a gift from God that He has given for us to enjoy and for us to trust Him with.
Because the quality of your sleep is often a sure test of your trust in God. I’ve battled my way through sleep and sleeplessness many nights because I was anxious or worried or stressed and because I was refusing to put my hope and trust fully in God.
Because if God is God then a will guard me as I sleep.
Because if God is God then He doesn’t need to me to be god for Him.
Because if God is God then I don’t need to worry about my life. He’s got it.
Because if God is God then I should trust that He knows best in His command for me to rest.
And it’s a daily battle.
A battle to preach the truth of God’s power and His goodness to our own hearts so that we can sleep well each night.
Sleep is a daily battle in the area of rest. So will you commit to the fight? Will you commit to preach to your own heart till you can enjoy God’s gift of sleep?
Be blessed
<3
