I wish I could say that I put my head on the pillow and sleep like a baby each night. Sometimes that’s the case, but not always. Too many nights, I’ve slept restlessly at best. On those nights, there’s usually something I need to learn or remember—and here’s what sleepless nights usually teach me:
- Something cool is scheduled for the next day. That’s a positive—an excited sense of sleeplessness, a childlike anticipation and wonder that you apparently don’t outgrow before you’re 63. You can’t wait for the next day to come.
- I’ve simply had too much caffeine close to bedtime. I don’t drink much caffeine, actually, but I’m learning that even small amounts can make a difference as I get older. I know something’s up when I’ve had caffeine, feel “wired” at night, and can’t determine any other explanation for my lack of sleep.
- I haven’t been getting the exercise I need. I sleep better when I build scheduled, intentional exercise into my life—not only because I’m naturally more fatigued, but also because I’m usually taking better care of myself in general.
- I’m overwhelmingly too busy. I know that’s the case when I have so much on my plate that it’s difficult to put things to rest at night. Even when I do sleep for a bit, I almost immediately think about things to finish as soon as I wake up.
- I’ve procrastinated . . . again. Sometimes what keeps me awake at night is not how much I have to do; it’s how much I have to do because I haven’t used my time wisely. And, I get so frustrated at myself for procrastinating that my anguish only exacerbates the sleeplessness.
- I’m still learning what it means to trust God with my heaviest burdens. I challenge people to trust God at all times, but I must confess my occasional struggles with my own load. Sometimes I find myself praying all night long, “God, please help me to leave this burden at Your feet.” I’m still learning.
- I need to deal with some sin issue. It may be something I need to confess, a relationship I need to try to fix, or a need to ask someone’s forgiveness. Whatever the cause is, these are times, frankly, when I’m actually grateful for sleeplessness because it calls me to honest reflection and repentance.
- I’m still a worrier. I’ve written about overcoming worry in this post and in this one, but sleepless nights remind me that I have a long way to go. I can, if I’m honest, still make worry a false god in my life.
- I forget that God is sovereign. I don’t literally forget that biblical truth, but I sometimes live like I don’t really believe it. Genuine belief in God’s control would allow me to sleep better even when life seems chaotic and out of control.
- God’s trying to get my attention. The issue may not be any of the issues listed above; it may instead be that God simply wants my undivided attention—and I get so busy during the day that I seldom think that way. Perhaps it’s in the night that I’m most inclined to ask, “Lord, what do You want?”
What do you learn in your sleepless nights?
Thank you Chuck for your post, not only this post but others as well on this topic of sleepless nights. I struggle with waking in in the middle of the night. My mind thinks of so many reasons why I need to do something so I get up. I do Bible reading and prayer and that helps calm things down and eventually go back to sleep. I’ve been pastoring the same church for almost 31 years and we’ve seen the ebb and flow and have remained a small church. It bothers me that we haven’t taken off and I keep turning it over to God. Which I keep reminding myself it’s His church.