The Lie of Sleep

Psalm 3:5 “I lie down and sleep; I wake again, because the LORD sustains me.”

I absolutely LOVE to sleep. I have no trouble going to sleep, and a LOT of trouble waking up in the morning. If I could, I would take a nap every day.  Sometimes this drives my husband crazy, because he is one of those who have trouble sleeping.

We live in a society that talks a lot about boundaries and health. I am a strong advocate of both! However, somewhere along the line, I bought into the lie that getting a good night sleep was more important that almost everything, especially more important that spending time with Jesus in the morning.

My life requires me to have early morning meetings. I have absolutely no trouble waking up for these meetings (most of the time). But for some reason waking up any earlier than I have to seems like a sin.

It has gotten pretty bad. The other night I was setting my alarm. I told my husband I was going to wake up the same time he did. He bet me $50 that I would not get up when he did. I thought it would be the easiest money I had ever made.  My alarm went off the next morning and I did not budge. I snoozed for another 30 minutes! To my defense it was a dark, cold, rainy morning. But still… I passed up $50 for an extra 30 minutes of sleep.

Getting in a regular routine of sleep is so healthy. When I wake up early in the morning I don’t feel rushed. I start my day off right.  I have time to be with my saviour, to sit at his feet and tell him about my day. When I make time with Jesus in the morning, I find my encouragement and my spiritual food for the day.

My time with Jesus is nothing too crazy. I normally start out writing my thoughts/prayers in my journal. I do this until I have completely emptied my jumbled thoughts. Right now I am reading through a devotional online called “She Reads Truth”. It has scripture and devotional to read through. I typically read the scripture several times until it I completely understand it. Then I might journal again some thoughts, or just sit and pray.

I want to get to the point where I cannot WAIT to wake up in the morning because that means I get to be with Jesus, my best friend. It is always easy to wake up on Christmas morning because of the anticipation of what might happen that day. When you walk with Jesus that is what every day should be like. I want to wake up in the morning SO ready for what God might have for me that day. Oh lord, will you make me like that!

A song I love is “Give Me Jesus”.  This is my hearts prayer. Here is the video for your own enjoyment.