sleep – The Will to Wake Up

A Simple Prayer

Do you struggle with finding time for rest?

When I was young, I struggled with falling asleep. By struggled, I mean it was a serious battle every night to shut my fearful thoughts off long enough to close my eyes and let the heavy breathing set in.

As I’ve gotten older, this has improved, though I still struggle with falling asleep after a particularly stimulating day.

Perhaps you can relate to this particular problem, or on a broader scale, you have had trouble finding time to truly pause and rest. In our busy world, we are bombarded with demands and a million things to hold our attention.

But God promises us rest.

When I was young, I would ask my mom for help with falling asleep. She would launch into a lengthy prayer, listing off every possible person we might know who could use prayer. Sometimes, that would be enough to distract my thoughts to the point of falling asleep.

But now, I’ve gotten into the habit of refocusing my thoughts, rather than finding distraction, and centering them on God. A simple prayer, asking for rest, is all it takes to get that rest.

It may not come in the form you imagined. I have a friend who got sick and had to cancel her plans, which was very frustrating for her, but then it turned out she needed that week to rest up for the stressful month ahead.

Rest can come in many forms, such as:

God giving you the courage to set a boundary with someone
Cancelled plans
Having a barrier come up that opens up a chance to take a break
A few moments of quiet every night
Finding a listening ear in a friend you didn’t expect
Going out into nature to feel God’s presence
And many, many more! I would never want to limit God’s creativity.

Today, if you are feeling burned out, simply ask God for rest. Take this as a sign to take care of yourself, which is best done in nourishing your soul through rest and time with God. You are not weak for needing a break. ❤

Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
Matthew 11:28-29

Discerning Voices

Do you ever feel troubled by voices that discourage you?

It’s late at night. You had a decent day before, nothing to worry too much about. But suddenly, it hits you. That one phrase that came out too fast, that one awkward moment, that one cause for slight concern.

And it haunts you for the rest of the night, maybe even trickling into the days that follow.

I thought of the idea for this post around 5 a.m. last night, as I lay awake in bed thinking about when I overshared during a meeting yesterday. At least, I thought I overshared. Nothing really indicated that I did, apart from one slight twinge of fear during the meeting. But the rest of the meeting was encouraging, uplifting, and hopeful.

So why focus on that one moment?

Well…that’s a good question that we all ask ourselves when we feel like we’re spiraling. Should we listen to the voice that tells us we aren’t good enough, or that we’re just an embarrassment? Is that the voice of God?

One of the hardest things about listening to God is knowing what God’s voice even sounds like. There are too many voices in our heads to discern sometimes. Even when we know a voice doesn’t sound like God, the words linger in our minds, affecting our actions and images of ourselves.

So what can we do about this? Live forever in fear of listening to the wrong voice? Allow negative voices to keep us from living to our fullest potential?

I think not!

Instead, we need to be prepared for the next time we hear something. We need to know what God would and wouldn’t say.

Based on what we know to be true of God’s character, here are a few things I think about when trying to decide whether or not the voice I hear is God’s.

God’s Voice Will Always:

Affirm God’s love for you, even if He’s helping you grow or learn from a mistake
Ask you to trust Him rather than fear
Focus on what can be done, rather than something out of your control
Remind you that you are God’s creation, precious and sacred in His eyes
Make you feel motivated to become who you are meant to be, even if that change is hard
Show you that you are not alone

God’s Voice Will Never:

Make you feel worthless
Deny a biblical principal, especially Jesus’ example or sacrifice
Put something before God or His love for you
Make you feel ashamed
Refuse a second chance for forgiveness or a fresh start
Tell you to hurt someone else or do something that God wouldn’t do
Affirm something in you that goes against God’s will or ways
Make you feel like anything about you cannot be redeemed through God’s grace

I’m sure you could look through your Bible and think of even more examples–in fact, I encourage you to do so! The best way to know what God wants for us is to figure out what the Bible says about God’s character.

I believe that we both can stand up against the lies of the enemy. The lies that want to bring us down can be used by God to strengthen us instead.

You are needed. You are loved. You are more than any mistake, any embarrassing moment, any moment of guilt. God will take who you are at this very moment and transform you into the person you are meant to be. All you need to do is let Him.

Very truly I tell you, a time is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live.
John 5:25

Change

Normally I start out with a story, something I’ve learned that I hope encourages you, or a piece of advice. I’m not going to do that today.

I’m just going to be real with you. I’m exhausted.

I don’t know about you, but life has been pretty crazy, and it’s just super hard seeing all that’s going on in the world, not to mention our own personal battles or the ones those close to us are facing. For me, the hardest part is feeling guilty knowing that so many people out there are suffering much more than I am, yet even I am overwhelmed.

A lot has been going on in my life the past few months that has brought change. Some of my relationships have changed, there’s been loss, there’s been new adventures, and it’s just a pretty strange time to be living in the world right now.

I’ve seen a lot of posts and articles calling out the people who are resisting change right now. “Don’t get used to normal!” “Normal HURTS others!” “It’s time for growth!”

I agree with those statements, but I can also empathize with any of you who just feel confused about what to make of the new normal. We need to embrace these challenges to examine ourselves and see how we can be more accepting, more willing to do what’s right and just, and more concerned with others’ well-beings, especially the marginalized. But it’s okay to take a social media break and to just breathe.

I don’t have some super powerful solution to any of this. But I hope you know that you’re not the only one out there who is feeling tired, discouraged. I’ve seen a lot of encouraging things, such as protestors and police officers kneeling together in unity, counties opening up finally, people being there for each other.

All of this news intake needs to go through a filter, and that filter should determine whether or not you can do something about it. Yes, educate yourself. Yes, don’t support injustice. Yes, be there for people. Yes, serve in practical ways.

But don’t tear yourself apart and put the entire burden that our society needs to take as a whole onto your shoulders. God is your refuge. He is there when you need to pour out your heart about all your concerns. It worked for King David, and look, the Psalms came out of it! Those have been encouraging people for centuries.

You can use this time when you may be feeling at your lowest in order to inspire others later. You can use this time to be growing closer to God by supporting His way of treating others– as purposeful, equal, incredible human beings who are unconditionally loved. You can use this time to feel God’s presence as you journey through new seasons and experiences.

But just know that if there’s a little ache inside that misses comfort, stability, and hope, there will be a time for that, I promise. It’s not wrong to miss those things, but it is wrong to not make the most of the time we are living in.

I am praying for you, and I hope you know that you are never alone.

God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.
Psalm 46:1