Dear Friends,
I seldom have a problem falling asleep. I can get in bed, roll over
and I am asleep in a minute. But last night I woke up in the middle of the
night, try and I could I wasn’t able to get back to sleep
Unable to sleep, I grabbed my iPhone and began scrolling through
my screen. In the process I saw a site that offered the promise of sleep. It
was a U tube app with spoken bible verses. I thought to myself I’m sure there
have been plenty of people who have fallen asleep listening to my preaching or
dozed off during lengthy readings of scripture. I recalled Eutychus in the Bible,
(Acts 20:7-12) who drifted off during a long discourse by Paul and fell from a
window (talk about embarrassing). But falling asleep in bed while listening to
the bible, sounded a lot less hazardous while at the same time it offered the
possibility of being much more spiritually enriching.
I honestly didn’t think much of anything would enable me to get
back to sleep, but I thought I would give it a try, so I clicked on the app and
immediately I heard a soft and mellow voice reading one of my favorite memory
verses, Philippians 4:6-7. “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every
situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your request to
God. And the peace or God which transcends all understanding, will guard your
hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
Next, I remember hearing a couple of Psalms and then mid-way
through the Beatitudes, I was completely out, and when I awoke 3 hours later, I
wondered how this had all happened.
It is no surprise that in todays’ anxiety filled world, some
struggle to get a good night’s sleep. Sleep can easily evade our restless
minds, but what better way to calm the spirit and hasten restfulness than
filling our mind and soul with the word of God.
I confess I doubted that listening to this app would put me to
sleep so quickly, but it did, and in the interval between clicking on the site
and nodding off, I was able to fill my soul with God’s word and what better way
to fill a restless heart than that.
Those of you who are much further along spiritually than I am, and
who know the benefits of technology far better than I do, are probably
laughing, and thinking I have been falling asleep like this for years. For any
of you like me who haven’t caught up to the fact that technology can be a
blessing, and not always a curse, I encourage you to give it a try.
I know this message is not real profound, and some may wonder why
I would take the time to discuss something like sleep, but how quickly we fall
asleep could be gauge revealing how deeply we trust in God. One wise pastor said from his pulpit, “I work
two shifts and I give God the third shift.” The point he was trying to make was
not that he didn’t trust God during the day, but that God was powerful enough
to handle everything while he slept.
The Psalmist reminds us that “in peace I will both lie down and
sleep, for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety” (Psalm 4:8). These
are good words to remember for those of us who might lay awake in the middle of
the night.
Yours in faith and friendship,
Tom
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