“Sometimes one of the godliest things you can do in the entire universe is go to bed and get some sleep!“
I came across this intriguing comment in the middle of a talk on ‘Doubt’, by Don Carson. He spoke of how sometimes our doubts come because we are just too tired! We doubt ourselves, we doubt our God and His love for us, we doubt His ability to use us in His plan and work things together for good.
“When you become tired enough you become skeptical, cynical and finally doubting. . . If you’re the kind of person who needs 8 hours sleep a night in order to be pleasant, then you owe it to Almighty God, not to mention all your fellow Christians and a lost world . . . to GET those 8 hours every night. . . You don’t have the right to go through life cynical, snarky and rude“ (DA Carson).
Well said! Perhaps we don’t hear this message, or take heed of it, nearly often enough.
Why is it so difficult to set that bedtime boundary and stick to it? The world offers us so many enticing, but empty and temporal things, which keep us awake. Sometimes it is our worries that keep us wide-eyed. Songwriter Wayne Watson suggests it is his “gods” which won’t let him sleep: “I toss and turn at night, I’ve got places to go, got battles to fight, And my gods won’t let me sleep…tonight”.

But the living God grants sleep to those He loves (Psalm 127:2). Now I’m not suggesting that if you are an insomniac or poor sleeper then it indicates God doesn’t love you! But it is important to recognise sleep is a gracious gift from God, on offer from our Maker to renergise and repair our bodies. And it is our responsibility to receive it. I heard recently that for good health, setting an alarm for the time to GO to bed is more important than a wakeup call! Sounds like a good idea. I might also take out the light circuit in the meter box, to help everyone in our household make the godly choice. . . Zzzzzzzzzz!