Sleep

https://odb.org/MY/2022/02/06/sweet-sleep

There are instances where the bible uses the term ‘sleep’ to denote death and for the righteous (justified by law or faith), it is an apt description as our ultimate destination is heaven and death is temporal as there will come a day when all those who are righteous before God will be resurrected to be in the presence of God for all eternity.

However, the sleep that we are talking about today is not that kind of sleep but the sleep that we are all more accustomed to. This is the sleep when we rest and close our eyes and drift into a world of dreams. A sleep that is necessary for most if not all created living beings because the physical body needs a downtime for its systems to perform what we call in the working world periodic maintenance, except that for humans and most mammals, it is a daily affair. We need to sleep once a day and if we push ourselves by denying sleep over a prolonged period, our body may break down. In fact I believe that is the reason why God made day and night and provisioned that there are 24 hours to a day.

But to some, sleep is difficult to come by. There could be a variety of reasons but mostly it is our worries that usually cause us sleepless nights. The latter expression to me is a misnomer as people usually use it to mean difficulty in sleeping i.e. insomnia rather than no sleep at all.

So in a way ease in falling asleep is indeed a blessing. Some could even do genuine ‘power naps’. Intentionally dozing off for just short periods and allowing the body to go into its ‘rest and repair’ mode. It’s a gift from God if we sleep easily. Of course not unintentionally, especially when we are at the wheel! Then it becomes a serious problem with major consequences! There are also people who developed a habit to drink in order to sleep and that is a dangerous slope as it will almost certainly lead to alcoholism! If we exercise and workout so we can have a good sleep, then that’s an excellent approach to the issue at hand so long as we don’t overdo it and end up forcing our body to go into overdrive at its rest and repair phase!

A clear conscience and a heart of gratitude to God are things that will help us get a good night’s sleep. May I add a forgiving heart so that we are always reconciled with God and man every night? Settle our worldly affairs and be at peace with the world at large. Then we can dream in peace and joy with no worry in the world bothering us in the background. Then, I believe our dreams will be sweet and joyous.

My prayer for all is that we will all get our deserved rest every night and dream good and sweet dreams, perhaps doing God’s work and helping people like we do in real life! Amen!