by Allie Shoulders (Director of Adult Ministries)
How have you been sleeping in the strange, shared but separate experience of social distancing? I have to admit I have had good nights and also fitful ones. Without many regular demands on my schedule, I am starting to notice patterns or rhythms of life in a new way and that includes sleep. As a night owl, I am experimenting with not setting a morning alarm unless absolutely necessary.
Sleep is a spiritual practice. It is a way to honor God and draw closer to him. It is at its essence the act letting go of control and submitting. It is restorative, allows us to function at our best, be mentally sharp and helps protect our immune system. The need for sleep is part of our human design and is something that is not done just once but is repeated daily.
Sometimes when we speak of specific spiritual practices, disciplines or strategies, I think we too easily go to a place of guilt and think this is yet another thing that may be good and beneficial but that somehow it is going to be work, must be earned, one more thing to cram into a busy schedule, too intellectual or must only available to credentialed super Christians such as theologians, pastors or saints. Spiritual practices in fact should be seen as methods to experience God’s goodness and grace and ways to draw closer to his heart. Spiritual practices allow Christ’s character to be formed in our souls. And God is ready and willing to meet you just where you are. In fact, just where you are is the only place he can meet and transform you. James Bryan Smith writes in The Good and Beautiful God, “disciplines are not ways to earn anything from God, but wise practices that allow God to teach, train, and heal us.”
Disciplines are not ways to earn anything from God, but wise practices that allow God to teach, train, and heal us.
One thing I should acknowledge here, most people go through periods of poor sleep. Especially in stressful times. There are many good resources that can advise you to on how set up helpful routines for better sleep. But they can also leave you feeling guilty and give the impression it is all in your hands if you take all the prescribed actions. And that is far from the reality. It could also be possible that God is using a period of sleeplessness as a way to get your attention. My best advice is to just take it a day at a time and be gentle with yourself. Also, as a wise person once said, “if you can lie awake and worry and can just as easily lie awake and pray.” When it does come, receive it as the gift it is.
Tonight as you get ready to sleep, do so with an open heart, recognize that you are submitting to a God whose love is unlimited, a God who desires the best for you and wants to renew you through rest, and that you are a beloved child of the God who not only created you but all of heaven and earth with imagination and joy. Also, use the opportunity to affirm your need for him, today, and again tomorrow.
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