Sleep: It’s been an issue for kings and commoners since Bible times
By Dean Collins
What keeps you up at night? It’s a question I have been asked and have heard asked in many interviews with various leaders. I suppose the question is intended to get at the things that are the most important issues to address or problems to solve. In that regard, I guess it is a fair question.
Unfortunately, many people have trouble sleeping. A 2021 article from the CDC reported that about a third of Americans have trouble sleeping. I found many different associations, foundations, and centers that claim nearly two-thirds of Americans have trouble sleeping. So what is it that keeps us up at night and worn out during the day?
Michael J. Breus calls himself The Sleep Doctor and is a diplomate of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine. In a June 2022 article, he gave 11 reasons we have trouble sleeping. Follow the link to see if any of these 11 are keeping you from adequate sleep.
Two kings and their sleep
Two of the 11 may relate to what King David and his son King Solomon wrote about concerning adequate sleep and rest: anxiety about work and safety. Sometimes the amount of responsibility we take on for solving all the world’s problems keeps us from sleeping and living well.
Psalm 127 is attributed to Solomon who had the task of building the temple that his father David wanted to build but couldn’t. According to scripture, Solomon had plenty of wisdom and plenty of financial resources along with significant power. But in spite of all that, he said, “Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain. Unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchman stays awake in vain.”
Money, power, and wisdom alone cannot accomplish the work God has called us to do. If work and life are not surrendered to God, then the things we do have little long-term impact. Solomon went on to say that to wake early and stay up late worrying about all that needs to be solved or accomplished is a waste of time. There is a connection between surrender and rest.
My surrender and my sleep
Of course, there may be many physical problems associated with sleep, and it is certainly appropriate to seek help for those potential sleep challenges. But I will be the first to confess that when we carry more of the burden than we are intended to carry, we will almost always struggle with sleep. And on the flip side, when we surrender the burden of responsibility and remember who is ultimately responsible, slumber comes much easier.
Maybe Solomon as a boy watched his dad sleeping soundly when enemies were out to get him, and maybe that helped him learn how to sleep at night. Maybe one bit of advice David wrote in his psalms helped Solomon learn the secrets of good sleep. In both Psalm 3 and 4 David referred to sleep:
“I lay down and slept; I woke again, for the Lord sustained me” ( 3:5).
“In peace I will both lie down and sleep: for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety” (4:8).
Jesus’ promise and my rest
Go ahead and follow the sleep doctor’s advice. Adjust the room temperature and leave your phone off. But a really good night’s sleep just might depend on first understanding what the great physician and King of kings said: “Come to me all of you who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest.”
Surrender to God and understand that the things we are called to do are in his hands and only by his power and grace will they ever be accomplished. I have lost many a night’s sleep when I took on more responsibility than is mine. Things work best and rest comes easier when we place things in the hands of the Lord each morning when we wake up and each evening when we place our heads on our pillows. Rest and watch what God will do when we follow his plan and not ours.
Your time with God’s Word
Psalm 127:1-2; 3:5-6; 4:8; Matthew 11:28 ESV
Photo by cottonbro at pexels.com
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