Do you ever have trouble sleeping because your mind is so busy or because of lurking fears?
My husband is the “close the house up before bedtime” guy, and when he was deployed to Iraq I was afraid to go to sleep. Even then I slept with the bedroom lights on, which was weird because I didn’t do this when he was away training.
(The anecdote I’m about to share is not at all related to the point of this blog.) On one of these sleepless nights our (then) 7-year-old son rushed in delirious with a fever and said with nightmarish alarm, “Mom, I think I just killed Spider Man!”
But back to sleeplessness.
Since my internal struggles (preoccupation, fear) are causing an external reaction (sleeplessness), I try to first address the internal struggle with God’s truth rather than simply treating the symptom. Here’s what Hebrews 4:12 says about the Bible’s power to speak to my soul:
“For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.”
Here are two game changing verses from God that I meditate on when I can’t sleep:
- Proverbs 3:24 “When you lie down, you will not be afraid; when you lie down, your sleep will be sweet.”
- Psalm 4:8 “In peace I will lie down and sleep, for you alone, Lord, make me dwell in safety.”
The amazing thing about reading God’s living Word right before rest is I usually wake up with the same words on my tongue, rather than the worries of this world and/or the cares of the day.
How about you? How do you seek God’s relaxation when faced with restlessness or insomnia?
