faithbook A message for quiet meditation
by JAN FARROW, Lay Reader at Holy Epiphany
Sleep is a very precious thing - it’s not until you are having difficulties in sleeping that you realise just how precious it is. I guess there are various reasons why sleep sometimes eludes us – we’re too busy, too excited, too worried, over-tired, and so the list goes on; you no doubt have your own reasons. I recently bought a fitness app, it’s like a watch, indeed it does even tell me the time. It also tells me how far I have walked each day, how many calories I have consumed in said walk, what my heart rate is, and above all it gives me my sleep pattern. What a shock that was!
My 11 year-old grandson tells me sleep is a gift from God, and he is right. How can we fail to be almost amused at Jesus who slept in the boat through a decidedly wild storm? The disciples were far from amused as the waves whooshed over the side soaking everyone; they woke Jesus up begging him to do something before they all drowned, and of course he did.
Sleep is essential to our wellbeing, it is a vital part of our 24 hour day, it’s how God made us, and there are many verses and parts of the Bible that reflect this, not least of all in the Psalms.
David writes in Psalm 3 verse 5, ‘I lie down and sleep, I wake again, because the Lord sustains me.’ Poor David had numerous enemies, literally chasing after him, ready to kill him, yet he could still write that. Thankfully our lives are not quite like David’s, at least mine isn’t and I hope yours isn’t either. But we do have other kinds of enemies like negative thinking, troubling relationships, health issues, and all sorts of other problems which cause us to lose sleep.
We need to remember God has the power to overcome, he is our shield, he it is who can answer our prayers. Let’s pray that as we share our innermost thoughts with him, we will experience deeper rest and healing sleep. Above all, may we know in our hearts and minds that the Lord cares about each one of us, we are precious to him.
Prayer
Heavenly Father as I come to you at night, help me to rest and leave all my troublesome thoughts with you, that I might wake refreshed in the morning. Thank you for watching over me and being a shield around me. Amen.