Editor’s Word: Our Could 2025 mini-series on the BCC Grace and Reality weblog addresses the subject of sleep and insomnia. On this closing article, Pleasure Forrest discusses God’s goal in our sleeplessness. In different contributions to the collection, Betty-Anne Van Rees shares biblical knowledge for setting ourselves up for good sleep, and Caroline Newheiser provides ideas from the Psalter concerning sleep.
Life within the twenty-first century is full of fixed interruptions, distractions, and stressors. It has develop into such an issue that consultants now inform us one in three People is sleep disadvantaged.[1] A few of us don’t get sufficient sleep as a result of we overwork ourselves. Others have insomnia, which may be rooted in emotional, bodily, or way of life points. Regardless of the trigger, not getting sufficient sleep can have severe penalties. Nevertheless, as with every little thing in life, tough issues may be alternatives in God’s upside-down kingdom. Twenty years in the past, I developed horrible insomnia for a brief season. Probably the most I may sleep every evening was 2-3 hours, and nothing helped. Ultimately, I made a decision to spend these sleepless hours meditating on Scripture, journaling, and looking for God.[2] After a number of nights of fervent prayer, I sensed a robust name to enroll in a counseling class at a neighborhood seminary, and the evening after I signed up, the insomnia resolved.
God used that point of sleeplessness to vary the course of my life. Inside a couple of months of starting that biblical counseling class, our church employed my professor to start a lay counseling ministry. I used to be rapidly recruited to take part and have become the first feminine counselor in a big SBC church for the following 9 years. My experiences in that counseling program in the end impressed me to ascertain Referred to as to Peace Ministries. Since 2015, this group has geared up church buildings and supported survivors of home abuse in all 50 states and almost 30 international locations around the globe. It began with a bout of insomnia, which taught me to embrace the alternatives that include sleepless nights.
Sleeplessness in Scripture
The Guide of Acts infers that the Apostle Paul skilled many sleepless nights. In chapter 16, throughout Paul and Silas’ imprisonment in Philippi, they have been praying and worshipping God round midnight when an awesome earthquake occurred. Paul was then capable of share the gospel with the jailer and all of the prisoners. After that, the jailer took them to his home, cleaned them up, and allow them to share the message together with his household. Your entire household was baptized in the course of the evening, and Paul and Silas have been again in jail by daylight. I ponder if Paul would have been as efficient in his response to the earthquake if he hadn’t already been awake and worshipping when it occurred. In chapter 20, Paul was preaching “on and on” until midnight (Acts 20:9) when younger Eutychus fell out of the window and died. After Paul raised him to life, they broke bread, and he talked to them till daylight.
After we have a look at the Gospels, we see the same sample with Jesus. He typically withdrew to lonely locations and prayed all evening or rose earlier than dawn (Luke 6:12; Mark 1:35). On the evening of His betrayal, Jesus lamented that His disciples stored falling asleep and instructed them, “Watch and pray in order that you’ll not fall into temptation. The spirit is prepared, however the flesh is weak” (Matt. 26:41). I discover it fascinating that Jesus instructed them to disclaim their our bodies and fervently search God as a substitute. Some folks may suppose that since Jesus was divine, it was simpler for Him to go with out sleep, however we all know that on not less than one event, He was so exhausted that He slept by means of a violent storm (Mark 4:38).
God designed our our bodies to wish sleep, and even Jesus was not exempt from this requirement. Nevertheless, there appear to be occasions when His Spirit can allow us to disclaim this want. I’ve seen that after I’ve gone on mission journeys, I’ve managed to thrive on a lot much less sleep. Past that, God has typically used sleepless nights to redirect me. Wonderful issues have occurred as I’ve decided to look at and pray on nights I struggled to sleep. I’ve seen non secular breakthroughs in my life and, on a couple of events, acquired particular solutions to prayers. I typically inform people who these middle-of-the-night occasions of communion with God are strongest as a result of I’m lastly quiet and nonetheless sufficient to listen to.
Objective within the Wrestle
As I ponder these patterns of sleeplessness present in Scripture,[3] I can’t assist however suppose that generally sleep is overrated in relation to our non secular lives. I imagine that durations of missed sleep, redirected as events to hunt Him, may be as efficient for our spirits as fasting from meals. There’s something highly effective about denying self and looking for Him wholeheartedly. We merely have to avail ourselves to His Spirit and permit Him to talk to our hearts by means of the watches of the evening. After we do, we’ll discover that our trustworthy God can and can flip the frustration of sleeplessness right into a blessing.
“I rise earlier than daybreak and cry for assist; I’ve put my hope in your phrase. My eyes keep open by means of the watches of the evening, that I could meditate in your guarantees” (Ps. 119:147-148).
Questions for Reflection
- If you happen to wrestle with insomnia, how do you handle it?
- If you happen to’ve struggled with frustration due to sleeplessness, how may you incorporate a extra meditative strategy to your wrestle? Take into account particular actions you possibly can take.
[1] “The State of Sleep Well being in America, American Sleep Apnea Affiliation, accessed April 24, 2025, https://www.sleephealth.org/sleep-health/the-state-of-sleephealth-in-america/.
[2] Consultants now say that staying in mattress throughout occasions of sleeplessness shouldn’t be beneficial. See “Can’t Sleep? When to Simply Get Out of Mattress,” WebMD, accessed April 24, 2025, https://www.webmd.com/sleep-disorders/options/cant-sleep-when-to-get-out-of-bed.
[3] There are a number of different accounts of sleeplessness in Scripture. See Gen. 32:24, 1 Sam. 15:11, Ps. 63:6, Lam. 2:19.
