Sunday Morning Tea: Sleep

It’s tea this morning, for some reason.  Coffee just  didn’t have its usual appeal, but tea sounded very comforting, and it was indeed.  Sometimes the comfort of a cup of good, hot tea is far more appealing than the jolt of caffeine you get from coffee.

Anyway, I’ve been thinking about sleep.  During this seemingly infinite wait to see a surgeon, I haven’t been able to work. I can’t do much of anything, actually, that doesn’t aggravate the pain in my sacroiliac joint. Which, by the way, has calmed down a great deal in the last week or so. I’m thankful.  I guess all this rest has had a good effect.

My days tend to blend one into another, and sometimes I have to stop and figure out where in the week I am.  I’ve been reading a lot, watching a lot of Hallmark Christmas movies. Spending far more than my usual time in reading my Bible, and in prayer. It’s been good. Terry has done a wonderful job of taking care of me. He always steps up to the plate when the need arises, and he goes far beyond the call of duty.

I was concerned, when all this started, that I wasn’t going to be able to sleep because I’m  not getting any physical activity to wear me out.  I was very wrong. I’ve been sleeping like a log, usually.  Only one or two nights have been restless and wakeful. When I wake up in the morning, I have nothing pressing on my mind, nothing  I have to do, nowhere I have to be. No one who is going to come to me seeking answers, seeking relief from their pain, looking for the “why” of their situation.  Just about the only thing on my mind is what the surgeon is going to offer me when I see him next week, and there’s nothing I can do about that so I refuse to give it much time to bother me.

I really thought that all this inactivity was going to drive me nuts, but it hasn’t.  Every night, I go to bed ready to sleep.  Most nights, I don’t remember dreaming.

I came across this quote this morning:  “Sleep… peace of the soul, who puttest care to flight.”~Ovid

Sleep is a wonderful gift that God has woven into  the tapestry of life.  Without sleep, people actually  can die. But when we get so wrapped up in tension, stress, worry, responsibility–we get so tied up that sleep becomes hard to find and harder to keep.  Anxiety keeps us waking up, startled and tense, perhaps sweating, checking the clock to see how much time before we have to get up.  That was not God’s intention for how we are to live our lives.  In fact, he told us there would be difficulty, anxiety and care.  And He told us how to handle it.

There are 365 verses in God’s Word that tell us to “be not afraid.” That’s one for every day of the year.  He also told us to “let not our hearts be troubled” in John 14:1. He promised us that He will always be with us, no matter what we may be experiencing  (Isaiah 43).

He also talks about sleep.

Psalm 127:2 “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.”

Proverbs 3:24 “When you lie down, you will not be afraid; When you lie down, your sleep will be sweet.”

Job 11:19 “You will lie down, with no one to make you afraid, and many will court your favor.”

Psalm 4:8 “I will both lay me down in peace, and sleep: for you, LORD, only make me dwell in safety.”

1 Kings 19:5 “He lay down and slept under a juniper tree; and behold, there was an angel touching him, and he said to him, “Arise, eat.”

Matthew 8:24 “And, behold, there arose a great tempest in the sea, insomuch that the ship was covered with the waves: but he was asleep.”

Jeremiah 31:26 “At this I awoke and looked, and my sleep was pleasant to me.”

Those verses are just for starters.  Google “verses about sleep in the Bible,” and you’ll find plenty more.

God intended for us to seep, and to sleep well.  Without anxiety, without worry. I’ve been doing that for several weeks now.  Maybe God knew I needed to step away from the cares and worries for a time, to get myself back in tune with Him.