What keeps you up at night? Maybe nothing. Maybe you are one of those people that lays down, goes right to sleep, and wakes up refreshed most mornings. If you are, please know that you are blessed! I fall asleep easy enough, but I don’t remain in that state for long enough at a time. So it seems that I get a series of short naps, instead of a good night’s sleep several times a week. I am hoping and praying for that to change.
The last couple weeks my husband and I have enjoyed the company of a couple dozen friends in a short Bible study of a book by Max Lucado,” Anxious For Nothing”. The title intrigued me because of my lack of sleeping time. I wonder if I am prone to worrying too much, and therefore don’t stay asleep?? In my waking hours I don’t feel overly concerned or anxious, which to me could seem to be a cause of my problem.
When I looked up the word anxious in my trusty Webster’s dictionary and my Thesaurus, it was interesting. It said that the word has long meant “ uneasy and disquieted”. BUT..today the word typically encompasses both worry and anticipation. So we not only are concerned with what we know to be true, but a whole bunch of “what ifs”. Many things that we imagine might happen, when in reality probably never will. That is calming to me, as I tend to put more into my brain to mull over than is actually a reality.
Our author in our weekly study said, “ Anxiety is a close cousin to fear, but the two are not twins. Fear SEES a threat, while anxiety IMAGINES one.” If you are a believer in the Christian faith, you have been taught to believe that life should be one of peace. When we don’t FEEL that tranquility, we sometimes think the problem is within us, and that leads to guilt. Peace is within our reach, not because we don’t have problems, but because the Lord is present and sovereign. Instead of rehearsing all of life’s chaos in our head, we need to put ourselves in a state of gratefulness and rejoice in His watchcare over us. It helps me to start listing things I am thankful for.
This past week my eyes and heart were opened and comforted by these words: “ While the PRESENCE of anxiety is unavoidable, the PRISON of anxiety is optional”. As we read and studied Philippians chapter four, verses 4-8, one of the things Paul writes is to “be anxious for nothing”. We discussed that he was referring to an ongoing state. And I loved the translation of those words by our author that said, “ Don’t let anything in life leave you PERPETUALLY in angst and breathless”.
C…A…L…M
C Celebrate God’s Goodness (Philippians 4:4)
A Ask God For Help (Philippians 4:6)
L Leave Your Concerns with God (Philippians 4:7)
M Meditate On Good Things (Philippinans 4:8)
I am trying this “recipe” to help me go back to sleep at night when I wake up. It ends up being kind of a prayer session between me and God. The great thing about it, is that when I wake up again I realize I actually fell asleep releasing whatever had a hold on my brain so I could relax and find rest.
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