The Medicine Cabinet: Go to Bed — Thursday
1 Kings 19:5-6
Then he lay down and slept under the broom tree. But as he was sleeping, an angel touched him and told him, “Get up and eat!” He looked around and there beside his head was some bread baked on hot stones and a jar of water! So he ate and drank and lay down again. (NLT)
Two things that I know are true: I love sleep, and sleep loves me.
I used to be intensely annoyed by people who made napping a part of their personality, or talked about how their favorite thing in the world was their bed. But a few years older and a few trials tougher… I get it. I’m not a napper, but I have grown to love the daily schedule of someone 50 years my senior. If I had it my way, I’d start work at 7am, eat dinner by 4:30pm, have a nice evening talking to a friend or watching my recording of the latest Jeopardy episode by 7pm, be tucked in and soundly snoozing by 9pm, and up and at ‘em again by 5am, getting my well-rounded 8 hours of shut-eye.
I do love sleep. But sleep also loves me. When I’m fully rested, I am cheerful, ambitious, imaginative, and productive. I am more mentally sharp, emotionally savvy, relationally patient, physically energetic, and spiritually attuned. And when I haven’t slept, I am basically the opposite of all of those things.
Do you know the story of the prophet Elijah? One time, he was on the run from an evil queen named Jezebel who wanted to kill him. He fled for his life into the wilderness to escape her—pretty exhausting, as you can imagine. But he became so weary from the whole thing that he prayed to just die anyway because he was so miserable. Rather than answering that prayer, guess what God did instead…
Similar to what you might do with a cranky, sleepy toddler: He gave him a nap and a snack. He let Elijah get a good sleep under a nice tree, then gave him a hearty snack and another rest. God had more that He would do in Elijah’s life, but He knew that Elijah wouldn’t be able to grow spiritually unless some of his physical fatigue was alleviated. God cared about that.
And He cares about that for you, too. Sometimes, the most spiritual thing we can do is just take a nap. It’s okay to go through seasons of less sleep (ask anybody with a newborn, or a college kid burning both ends of the candle), but our long-term health—physical AND spiritual—requires us to really rest. God invented us to need sleep. It’s a good thing.
Thursday’s Reflection
Instead of a reflection, I’m giving you an assignment: Either take a nap, or go to bed an hour earlier than you usually would. Seriously. Try it. It will be good for you.
