Is Sleep Spiritual? (continued…)

19 05 2008

After being bugged all day by not being able to remember where I first heard the idea of sleep being spiritual and after doing a lot of research (with the help of Heather), we finally found where we first heard this (we think).  It is from the book The Life You’ve Always Wanted by John Ortberg.  Here’s the exact chunk of the book I was thinking about:

I was surprised to find that the Bible has much to say about what John Ballie called the theology of sleep.  Sleep is a gift from God:

I will both lie down and sleep in peace; for you alone, O LORD, make me lie down in safety. – Psalm 4:8

It is an act of trust; I am reminded when I go to sleep that the world is in God’s hands, not mine.  The world will get along very well even though I am not awake to try to control things.  At the appropriate time, my eyes will open and I will receive the gift of wakefulness once again.

I lie down and sleep; I wake again, for the LORD sustains me. – Psalm 3:5

Have you ever tried to pray when you are lacking sleep?  Before Elijah was to spend a prolonged time in solitude and prayer at Mount Horeb, the angel of the Lord had him take not one, but two long naps.  Contrast this with the disciples at Gethsemane, who could not pray because they kept falling asleep.  Sleep is a gift from God.

It is in vain that you rise up early and go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil; for he gives sleep to the his beloved. – 1 Kings 19:1-9

For some of you reading this book, perhaps the single most spiritual thing you could do right now is to put it down and take a nap.

I find it hilarious that as I am typing and re-reading over this challenging section of this book, it is 12:30am.


Comments : 4 Comments »

Categories : Books, Spirituality

Is Sleep Spiritual?

19 05 2008

“Taking a nap may be the most spiritual thing you do.”

That was the quote that I remember hearing at one time.  I am frustrated because I cannot remember if it was something I heard in a sermon or lecture or if it was something I read in a book.  Either way, the point is that I did not have this original thought.

Last night, I did something I have not done in years – went to sleep early and got a good, long, full night’s sleep.  I woke up this morning without yawning and without hitting the snooze button five times.  I feel good.  I feel focused.

I normally do not sleep that much.  I usually stay up pretty late and I usually wake up fairly early.  I seem to function really well despite my lack of sleep.  I normally think that is another reason why I am doing exactly what God wired me to do (ministry).  However, I understand that my sleeping patterns are normally not the most healthy of habits.  I wish I was more self-disciplined when it comes to sleep.  

After my long, hard night of sleep I began to remember the earlier quote.  I began to ponder, “Is sleep spiritual?”  Why did God create us with the natural need for eight hours of down-time each day?  God put us down here for a limited number of years; and approximately one-third of that valuable time is spent dreaming rather than producing.

If sleeping is spiritual, we are not very good at it.  According to the National Sleep Foundation (by the way, very interesting website), the average adult sleeps 6 hours and 58 minutes per night during a normal work week.  Compare this to 100 years ago – before Thomas Edison’s marvelous invention – when the average adult slept about nine hours a night.  Indeed, we are a nation of people who are chronically sleep deprived.  Sleep specialists recommend that we need eight to ten hours of sleep nightly.  I do not do well with that recommendation.  Do you?

More importantly than the physical effects of sleep, what about the spiritual effects of sleep?  The person who made the sleep being spiritual quote explained that when we go to sleep, we complete surrender all control and place our unfiltered trust in God’s hands.  The idea is that God will take care of you and the world while you sleep and that you trust that he will wake you up.  This makes sleep spiritual.  

Lauren Winner, a writer for Catalyst, explains that “to sleep, long and soundly, is to place our trust in Him without whom we labor in vain.”

So what do you think?  Is sleep spiritual?


Comments : 8 Comments »

Categories : Life, Spirituality

Sermon Online

19 05 2008

Yesterday, Mark Jobe preached at Shannon Oaks.  He hit a homerun.  His sermon was entitled “Two Trees In The Garden”.  Genesis 2:9b (NIV) says, “In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.”  Mark does a great job of breaking down life lived eating from both trees.  His sermon was challenging and pushed me to look at myself through a spiritual mirror to see where I needed change in my life.  It is worth the time to listen to it.  If you have an extra 30 minutes in your day, check it out.  

Click here to listen to the message.  (Make sure to click on the sermon entitled “Two Trees in the Garden”.)


Comments : 1 Comment »

Categories : Faith, Spirituality