Saturday, January 26, 2013

Sleep in Heavenly Peace

“In peace I will lie down and sleep, for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety.” Psalm 4:8

Sleep is so important, mentally, physically and spiritually. I struggle with sleep, often to the point of me looking like a zombie from lack of a good night of rest. I suffer from post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) from my time in Afghanistan and other times in my life as well. This causes me to have horrible and terrifying nightmares. I try to avoid these nightmares in many ways, but one of them is by fighting sleep. I am certain if I sleep I will have a nightmare, so I just force myself to stay up and get close to no sleep. The problem with that is then I create a whole new series of problems.

I am grumpier when I am tired which causes me to snap at people I am close with and don’t deserve to be treated that way. I am tired and don’t have energy which of course stops me from enjoying the day like I should. It makes it hard to get up and do things and when I do they are not done with as much care and thought as they should because my mind is not functioning at full capacity. It lowers my immune system, constantly being tired leaves my body prone to illness and infections. It also affects me spiritually, when my mind and body are so tired, the time I spend with my Savior is not given fully and wears on my soul as well.

The verse above is encouraging to me and if broken down has much to say on many levels regarding sleep and how we should go about it, especially if it is an area of struggle like me.

  • Seek a peaceful mindJust as the first words are “In peace”, the first step in having a good night’s sleep is seeking peace in God. Pray and spend some time with your Father before you go to bed; asking for forgiveness to relieve any guilt, spilling all your worries to Him that they may be gone, and calming your mind with the peace only He can provide. If your frame of mind is relaxed than your body can soon follow.
  • The verse applies to me directly The next step is to acknowledge that the verse is talking to you directly. It doesn’t say he will sleep, or they will sleep, it says “In peace I” This should be read in reference to yourself. David is the one who is talking about himself, but as you read it, put yourself as the subject. 
  • Approach sleep positivelyDavid says, “In peace I will…” not “I will try…” He said with determination and resolution that this is what will happen. He didn’t approach bedtime with negative ideas or resolved himself to failure before he began. Many times I go to bed thinking, “I am going to bed now, but I know I won’t sleep.” I didn’t sleep last night and tonight will be no different.” I am already condemning my sleep in my head. We need to follow his example and be positive in our approach, thinking we will do this! 
  • Plan and prepare to sleepIt says, “In peace I will lie down…” meaning you don’t just think to yourself, I will go to sleep tonight and it will happen, you have to take action and go about the process. Just like any part of our daily schedule, there are steps to achieving them. When we eat, we must get the food before we consume it. When we get dressed, we must first pick out clothes. There are steps to everything we do and sleep should be a part of that routine as well. The step to planning on sleeping is to actually “lie down”. By positioning yourself in the position of sleep you are preparing for the actual slumber to occur.
  • Focus on sleepingThe next part is the action itself, “In peace I will lie down and sleep…” Now that you are lying down, you must focus on sleeping. That is the reason you got in bed to begin with after all. You didn’t get in bed to read, get on your computer or play on your phone as I often do. When we lie down at night, there is only one thing we should be focused on doing and that is to sleep. Because you already prayed for peace in the beginning, you should not be solving tomorrow’s problems, wondering what may happen next year, reliving all the worries of the day, but just focusing on sleep! When we lie down with the mindset of only going to sleep, then the sleep will usually happen.
  • Relax in HimIn peace I will lie down and sleep, for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety.” We have the assurance that God will keep us safe and protect us. In my case, I fear my horrible nightmares or that something bad will happen in the night. With these words, I can rest knowing that I am safe in the arms of the Lord. 

With the breakdown of this verse my prayer is that tonight and every night from now on, I would remember this and turn to Christ to help in my insomnia. I pray that I will seek peace in Him and relax in knowing He is there to keep me safe. With this security in our Lord, I hope that my sleepless nights are over and my mind, body and soul may all be focused and healthy.

I found this today, it is not a song, but rather a soothing prayer. The words are perfect to what we should say at night and it is said in such a calming and relaxing way. I am warning you tho, it put me in a tired mood right away so maybe wait and listen to it this evening, I know I will be. :)



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