For some reason ever since coming down to Georgia I have had trouble sleeping. It doesn’t happen every night, and there is no pattern to it. I have never had trouble sleeping before and so for awhile I just thought it was a bit odd. And no it’s not anything that I have eaten, or the mattress I sleep on. Last night I think I laid in bed for over an hour trying to get to sleep only to wake up at 3, read for a few hours and attempt to go back to sleep after 6 to wake up a couple of hours later because I just couldn’t sleep any more. I have resulted to over the counter sleeping pills just to be able to sleep through the night (which I rarely take, only when I know I am on the verge of getting sick because of lack of sleep and just need one solid night of sleep). I am one of those people who needs a good 8 – 9 hours of sleep a night, and well I haven’t had that in a very long time. It might sound silly to some, but I really feel like the enemy is stealing my sleep… he knows that if I am attacked in any other way I can either just shrug it off or go to anyone in the amazing community around me to help. But when he steals my sleep he steals my productivity, my attitude, and my concentration. The thing is that I know that I am not the only one who is having this problem. There are several others at AIM who are suffering with trying to get the amount of rest and sleep that they need. So as I take my over the counter drugs tonight, I also ask that you say a prayer for me and for all of us who are serving the Lord… that the enemy would no longer be able to steal away our sleep in any of the many ways that he has been trying and that the Lord would refresh us as we sleep tonight.
I have struggled with this all my life, and it is sooooo hard to function or be loving and kind when you have not slept,
I will pray for sweet sleep tonight, you need it, and you are worth it!!!
love you,
Mama
Amen, may He give you all good rest, ongoing!
Praying for you Case, that God me hold you in His arms as you sleep and that He may give you a rest like never before!
Love you and miss you!
Sarah
Casey,
There are people who suffer from a problem with melatonin and it affects there sleep cycles. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melatonin My wife suffered with this for some time and was able to take a melatonin supplement and eat certain foods that helped produce melatonin naturally. Over time it helped out tremendously in her case. If your sleep on the other hand is worry related commit it all to the Lord of peace. Check out this verse as a third option. I found it last night as I studied the Bible. Job 33:
14 For God does speak—now one way, now another—
though no one perceives it.
15 In a dream, in a vision of the night,
when deep sleep falls on people
as they slumber in their beds,
16 he may speak in their ears
and terrify them with warnings,
17 to turn them from wrongdoing
and keep them from pride,
18 to preserve them from the pit,
their lives from perishing by the sword
I guess the point is that God can and does speak to us at night in our sleep. Another version said that He whispers in our ear at night. God spoke on occasion with people called to his purposes and often at night. Look at Samuel who mistakenly thought he was being called by the old priest Eli. Perhaps if you wake up in the early morning hours you should commit yourself to prayer and to say, God here I am! And see if He responds. Some of my best prayer time is when I am awakened at dreadful hours of the night. We all know that Satan works in these hours also in the lives of many people. God loves for us to seek Him for comfort, peace and perhaps special times of calling when our mind is least active and occupied. The passage says that He calls one way and another and people do not perceive it so he comes at night as we slumber and communicates or whispers in our ear. How intimate is that, God whispering in your ear in the still of the night with special instructions. As a staff member you need this closeness with God and you need to take special care to not give any foothold to the Devil so that he can gain any advantage over you.
Blessing,
Wayne