Some Advice on Sleep. News & Views from ACT3 Network by Dr John Armstrong 2-24-14
Some Advice on Sleep. News & Views from ACT3 Network by Dr John Armstrong 2-24-14
I wanted to save this article on my website because a friend of mine has been struggling with sleep. This is some good, spiritual advice that I feel could benefit many people….Kevin
From Act 3 Weekly
Some Advice on Sleep. News & Views from ACT3 Network by Dr John Armstrong 2-24-14
I wonder if you think much about sleep. Those of us who have dealt with sleeplessness know far more about the trials of sleep than others who fall off into dreamland every night like clockwork. But I am not thinking, as I write this, about sleeplessness as much as about sleep.
I’ve had more than a few Christians offer me simplistic remedies, and prayers, which I could use to find it easier to fall into sleep each evening. I suppose that dealing with a chronic illness for more than a decade taught me to prize sleep more than I can explain. But now I generally fall asleep peacefully, at least most evenings. I am simply so truly exhausted, I fall asleep. Age has played a role in this for sure. I sleep less and feel tired more often, but I will be 65 later this week so I think this is quite normal.
What interests me far more, however, is the implications of sleep from the perspective of the teaching of Scripture and the work of the Holy Spirit. Oswald Chambers writes: “It is not true to say that sleep is simply meant for physical recuperation; surely much less time than God has ordered would have served that purpose . . . . [One version of the Scripture says] ‘he gives unto his beloved in sleep.’ The deepest concerns of our souls, whether they be good or bad, are furthered during sleep. It is not merely a physical fact that you go to bed perplexed and wake up clear-minded; God has been ministering to you during sleep. Sometimes God cannot get at us until we are asleep.” I have found this to be profoundly true over the course of my life, especially over the last two decades. I go to bed asking Abba for rest. I also ask for revelation and wisdom in my subconscious mind. (Modern brain research had helped us plumb the depths of this matter far more than Oswald Chambers knew when he wrote the words that I quoted from him above.)
God deals with us when we sleep. He corrects us, instructs us in our deepest inner being and gives rest to both our body and soul. We should all pray “deliver us from the evil one” each night and thus invite the Spirit into our minds while we rest. Try it, you may be quite amazed at what happens if you really pay attention.
I write this today because God has used dreams more than a few times to inform my life and to guide me into deeper trust and reliance upon him. I sometimes refer to my “vision of unity in Christ’s mission.” Most people hear these words – vision/dream – as simply an exercise of my mind and will in an entirely conscious way. This is partially true since it includes that element, but it is only partial because there is so much more. God has confirmed and deepened my vocation through the evenings when I’ve slept in the Spirit. (I hope that sentence makes you a little uncomfortable but then pushes you into deeper prayer and real seeking of your Father.)
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