Sleep – that beautiful and necessary period when our bodies slow, recharge and reset. Some can find it heartbreakingly elusive. There are those who need more than most and a few who seem to need quite little, but we all need some. Our brains must pause from outside work and shift to let the day be stored and assimilated. Our bodies, too, cease from its labor, but like our brain will continue its regenerative function while at rest.
God has made us to need certain patterns for a healthy life. The Sabbath is a reminder that we must stop our work and leave it to God. No matter how much we’ve accomplished in a week, it is never enough. We must rely on God. No matter how many tasks remain at the end of a day, we must still at some point stop to sleep. We are not enough on our own. We have limits. And we must rest. In this sense, we enter in to a daily sabbath and trust God to supply what we lack.
Sleep is our nightly declaration that we aren’t God.
The older I get the more I appreciate the rhythms God created for us. A time of daily rest, to stop what I’m doing and rely on His goodness while He recharges and strengthens me. A weekly time of stopping my normal routines, pulling close to Him, and having my spirit strengthened in relation with Him. I wish I had been mindful to practice patterns to reinvigorate my soul every 7 years or observe a jubilee (although I had a great 50th year). I believe all these sabbaths, patterns and rhythms help us practice for and point to the great sabbath we will enjoy in His Presence for eternity. May I be reminded each night that He is God and I am not and sleep peacefully in that assurance.
In peace I will lie down and sleep, for You alone, Lord, make me dwell in safety. Psalm 4:8
