One of the most common pieces of advice I’ve received since becoming pregnant is, “Sleep as much as you can now!” And that’s one piece of advice I’m happy to follow, because I love sleep. As a child, like most other children, I hated taking naps, but sometime during college I saw the light and realized just what a gift it is to be well-rested.
I guess
it’s not so much that I love the sleep itself as it is that I don’t love how I
feel when I don’t have enough of it. My brain doesn’t work as well, so I’m less
productive and less able to focus on things I need to do. My temper becomes
shorter, so I’m more likely to snap at other people. Stressors seem more
unmanageable, so I’m more likely to get panicked over things that wouldn’t
phase me otherwise. My body doesn’t have the chance to make enough lymph, so
I’m more prone to getting sick or staying sick longer. My level of overall
fatigue increases, so I’m less likely to spend time in the Bible and in prayer
and more susceptible to temptation. All of these things are why the phrase
rings true that “sometimes the most spiritual thing you can do is take a nap.”[1]
In a
society where self-sufficiency is praised, it can be difficult to acknowledge
that we are not all-powerful. We have limits. We were designed to need rest,
and God created the amazing process of sleep to restore and refresh our bodies,
minds, and spirits. We close our eyes, and while we are essentially dead to the
world, our bodies are at work basically recharging themselves so that when we
awake we are ready to face the hours ahead. It’s pretty amazing when you stop
to think about it. Not only does sleep help give us physical and mental energy,
but it also helps us spiritually as we are better able to be alert, ready both
to avoid and/or fight temptation and to follow the Holy Spirit’s leading
throughout the day.
The Bible
itself has plenty to say about sleep. In 1 Kings 19, Elijah, when running for
his life, took two naps along with eating and drinking the sustenance God
provided for him. David recognized that sleep was a gift from God in Psalm 4:8:
“In peace I will both lie down and sleep; for you alone, O Lord, make me
dwell in safety” (ESV), and his son Solomon did the same: “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” (Psalm 127:2, ESV). And then there’s all
the times that God used sleep to communicate with people through dreams, e.g.
Abram (Genesis 15), Jacob (Genesis 28), Joseph (Genesis 37), Pharoah (Genesis
41), Jeremiah (Jeremiah 31), Joseph (Matthew 1), etc. Even Jesus slept (Matthew
8, Mark 4, Luke 8). We also see how the absence of sleep is portrayed as a
negative thing; when people are distressed or in danger, they are not able to
sleep (see Daniel 2, Daniel 6, Esther 6).
Of course,
as with most good things, the abuse of sleep can turn it into a not-so-good
thing. Scripture is also filled with warnings against slothfulness (see
Proverbs 6:9-10, 10:5, and 20:13, to name a few). And Jesus chided His
disciples for sleeping when they should have been awake (Matthew 26, Mark 14,
Luke 22). But in our fast-paced, productivity-worshiping culture, our danger
seems to be not resting enough instead of resting too much. We like to pretend
that we’re the Energizer Bunny, with an energy source that can never be
depleted. Far from prioritizing rest, we run ourselves ragged until our bodies
start to falter and ultimately sickness forces us to slow down.
I used to
feel guilty for taking naps when there were so many things on my to-do list, but
I finally realized that spending an hour or two sleeping wasn’t a waste of time.
Instead, I found that when I had enough sleep, I was better able to tackle
those things I needed to do, better able to write, better able to be there for
friends who needed to talk, better able to maintain a peaceful mindset, and
better able to practice the Fruit of the Spirit. Taking care of our bodies is
important, and it goes hand in hand with taking care of our souls.
Another
benefit of sleep is that it causes us to recognize the nature of our
relationship to God. First, it shows us that we are completely dependent on Him.
We don’t tell our hearts to keep beating or our lungs to keep breathing while
we’re conked out. He is the One who sustains us while we sleep and allows us to
wake up.
But sleep
also shows us that we are not God and that God is completely greater
than us. While there are times in the Bible where God is referred to as
“sleeping” (e.g., Psalm 44:23, “Awake! Why are you sleeping, O Lord? Rouse
yourself! Do not reject us forever!” [ESV]), these are figures of speech
referring to times where it seems that God is asleep because it seems
that He is not active or not paying attention. But we know that God is
self-sustaining and has no need to refresh or recharge. “Behold, he who
keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep” (Psalm 121:4, ESV). No mockery
can be made of Him as was made of Baal in 1 Kings 18 when Elijah suggested Baal
might not be hearing his followers because he was asleep. God is always awake
and always alert. “The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends
of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is
unsearchable” (Isaiah 40:28, ESV).
So while we
sleep and while we’re awake, we can be confident that God is ever watching and
never drowsy. We never have to try to keep ourselves awake to make sure He’s
paying attention, like a passenger trying to keep the driver from falling
asleep. We never have to exhaust ourselves trying to run on fumes when we
weren’t created to live that way. We can be grateful for the way God designed
our bodies, for the way He connected the physical and spiritual within us, and
for the sweet gift of sleep He has given us. And we can worship Him for His
creativity and perfect design of us and for His greatness by which He is able
to exist without ever needing to sleep. What a tender, kind, and mighty God we
serve!
[1] I’ve heard this phrase from several pastors and authors, so I’m not sure to whom the original credit goes.
