How are you sleeping?

 This famous prayer is attributed to Henry Johnstone.

"Now I lay me down to sleep.
I pray the Lord my soul to keep.
If I should die before I wake,
I pray to God my soul to take.
If I should live for other days,
I pray the Lord to guide my ways."
 

 

Are you like me?

Does your mind wander?

Man, I missed the boat. I should have.......

Man, I screwed that up. I should NOT have.....

or 

I wonder what affect my actions will have on tomorrow.
Am I fully prepared for on tomorrow will bring?

You see, many times we live in regret of things we have done, or lack thereof. While other times we are paralyzed by the uncertainty of the future. 

But I believe to be human means to fully alive in the moment. To be thankful for the gifts we have been given by God and using those gifts to spread his love to others. 

I fully believe our ability to be productive happens when we are fully human and this only happens when we get enough sleep. And not just any type of sleep but good sleep.

You know the different right? My Fitbit tracks my heart rate and transfers the data to my phone while I sleep. And something it tells me is "How I am sleeping"  Not just the length but how much "Deep Sleep"

This brings me to the Bible. There is a popular Bible Story where Jesus calms the Storm. But what is the context?


"Soon a fierce storm came up. High waves were breaking into the boat, and it began to fill with water. Jesus was sleeping at the back of the boat with his head on a cushion. The disciples woke him up, shouting, "Teacher, don't you care that we're going to drown?"


Okay, so Jesus is sleeping because HE IS TIRED. Because he was teaching parables. And healing the sick. And dealing with a lot of emotional and dysfunctional people. Jesus shown compassion but he was tired. So he fell asleep.

The disciples woke him up because they were afraid.

What scares you?

How humbling it would have been to include this story in the Bible. Fishermen were afraid. This must have been one big storm.

Oh, and to answer their question... Yes, Jesus cared.

 Back to the story
Because Jesus was still cranky and didnt get his starbucks yet He simply used three words to calm the storm: "Silence, Be still."


Guys, why are you afraid? Do you still lack faith?

Jesus had given them the authority to speak to the storm of this world and calm them down. Yet, they freaked. They didn't trust that God could work through them and they had to wake up Jesus. While they were the ones sleeping spiritually.


Here is the point.....

1) Jesus has given us authority to speak to the winds and waves. We can say, "Silence be still." We can speak to the injustice of our culture and say, "That's not okay!"

We can step in for others when they are sleeping and pray on their behalf.


2) When we trust in God we can sleep in the midst of storms.

Storms happen. Bad stuff happens, right? We can worry about what we didnt do or what we are going to need to do....... or we can live in the moment.


Part of "living in the moment" is sleeping when you are tired.

So how are you sleeping?

If you are not sleeping; stop counting sheep and give your trust over to the Good Shepherd.

I pray that God will work in and through you to surrender your agenda and stress over to the One who is able to handle it all. 



Declare this simple yet profound childlike prayer tonight before bedtime....

"Now I lay me down to sleep.
I pray the Lord my soul to keep.
If I should die before I wake,
I pray to God my soul to take.
If I should live for other days,
I pray the Lord to guide my ways."