Sleepless nights

We all know the value of a good night sleep. Equally, we all know the frustration of sleepless nights. We find ourselves tossing and turning, unable to rest. As the hours pass, we anticipate the morning when we will be exhausted if we don’t get to sleep. However, it seems the more we worry about it, the more elusive sleep becomes. For many people, this situation is a common and debilitating problem. Putting medical conditions aside, most sleep loss is caused by stress, anxiety, or depression. These are all significant problems. And they can affect any person, at any time, and in any walk of life. When we read the Scriptures, even the great King David struggled with sleepless nights. He wrote in one of his psalms, ‘My soul is greatly dismayed … I am weary with my sighing; every night I make my bed swim’. Psa 5:6. This is a vivid picture. David was in a time of great distress, and it was evidently affecting his sleep. He was weary. When we consider his life, there may have been many reasons for his anxieties. He was constantly beset by various enemies and trials. However, was he able to find an answer to his lack of sleep?

The apostle Paul also described this situation of not being able to find rest. He identified the cause of this problem as being ‘conflicts without’ and ‘fears within’. 2 Cor 7:5. There will always be conflicts without. These are the constant pressures of life, and we have very little control over these external situations. However, these ‘conflicts without’ do not need to become ‘fears within’ us. Regardless of life’s circumstances, we do not need to be immobilised by stress, consumed by anxiety, or overcome by depression. After identifying the danger of ‘fears within’, Paul immediately continued, ‘The Lord comforts the depressed’. 2 Cor 7:8. He had discovered the secret of not allowing these external pressures to become internal problems. Hence he could say, ‘We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not despairing’. 2 Cor 4:8. Paul’s secret was very simple. He learnt how to pray. In the midst of all his difficulties, he knew how to draw aside in prayer. Paul knew how to regroup himself. His heart was constantly strengthened and refreshed by the Lord. Accordingly, he wrote, ‘Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God’. Phil 4:6.

Very few things are resolved by worrying, and particularly in the dead of night. We must commit all our concerns to the Lord. With all his emotions and anguish of soul, David came to understand the importance and imperative of prayer. He said to himself, ‘Meditate in your heart upon your bed, and be still’. Prayer has the effect of settling our anxieties and causing us to be ‘still’. We can join the psalmist in rejoicing, ‘You have relieved me in my distress … in peace I will lie down and sleep’. Psa 4:1, 7.

David Baker

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Feature Articles
June 2008

Sleepless nights

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