Continuation of the series "Miss to Mrs" Part I was on "Make Time" today's blog, "Rest in Him" and yet to come, "Surrender Your Emotions." These are three tips mostly for the "Bride to be" but can be applied to any one's situation!
What is your typical sleep pattern? Do you get 8 hrs? 9 (lucky!)? The few months prior to the wedding, my sleeping pattern was horrible! I had so much going on outside of the wedding that it only added to my already sporadic sleeping pattern. Just last week, my beautiful and much more technologically savvey friend Jessica, showed me an application on her phone that tracks the depth of her sleep pattern. Picture a typical x-y axis with a line following closely to the X-axis: this meant you had a wonderful, deep sleep---the kind that you do not like waking from. Then she showed me the crazy squiggle lines one night she slept poorly: months prior to the wedding, my screens would have looked like!
It wasn't so much my concern that everything would be perfect, there was just so much to do. It doesn't help having a bit of a creative mind that doesn't want to shut off. But more often than not, it's easy to become really consumed with ideas and anxiety if and when they will become a reality. You may be experiencing lack of sleep for other reasons; school, work, family issues, tension between a friendship or a boyfriend/girlfriend, fear of future problems, finances and the like. Sadly I recall a wonderful devotion on this topic but have forgotten who wrote it. I remember the devotional said something along these lines: sleep is actually an act of worship because it's a signal that we are trusting God with tomorrow. The mentality: "I don't have to fret about tomorrow now when my body is aching for rest, I can sleep and trust that the Lord will provide." Now the Word also warns about sleeping too much, haha, but for the sake of this devotional, let's pretend we all have sleep depravity. I found a couple scripture verses that pertain to this idea of trusting the Lord as we sleep:
Proverbs 19:23
The fear of the LORD leads to life, and whoever has it rests satisfied; he will not be visited by harm.
Psalm 127
Unless the LORD Builds the House
A Song of Ascents. Of Solomon.
1Unless the LORD builds the house,
those who build it labor in vain.
Unless the LORD watches over the city,
the watchman stays awake in vain.
2It is in vain that you rise up early
and go late to rest,
eating the bread of anxious toil;
for he gives to his beloved sleep.
3Behold, children are a heritage from the LORD,
the fruit of the womb a reward.
A Song of Ascents. Of Solomon.
1Unless the LORD builds the house,
those who build it labor in vain.
Unless the LORD watches over the city,
the watchman stays awake in vain.
2It is in vain that you rise up early
and go late to rest,
eating the bread of anxious toil;
for he gives to his beloved sleep.
3Behold, children are a heritage from the LORD,
the fruit of the womb a reward.
Isn't verse 2 a wonderful verse to cling to on this subject: It is vain that you rise up early and go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil; for he gives to his beloved sleep." I don't think God is hating on the "Early Bird/Late Owl" mentality here so just because you enjoy getting up in the morning or like to stay up later doesn't mean you are in vain---but in context with "eating the bread of anxious toil," can reveal that God is talking about individuals that have a tendency to fret and worry themselves to the point that they cannot sleep. Here are some more verses:
Psalm 4:8
8 In peace I will lie down and sleep,
for you alone, LORD,
make me dwell in safety.
for you alone, LORD,
make me dwell in safety.
Ecclesiastes 8:16-17
16 When I applied my mind to know wisdom and to observe the labor that is done on earth—people getting no sleep day or night— 17 then I saw all that God has done. No one can comprehend what goes on under the sun. Despite all their efforts to search it out, no one can discover its meaning. Even if the wise claim they know, they cannot really comprehend it.
And if you think about it, God used sleep as a time to speak to people throughout the entire Bible. I wonder if He thought it wouldn't scare them as easily as someone like Gabriel just walking into your home. Ha!
So although you may be having loads of fun creating things for your wedding, it's important to allow yourself to simply REST IN HIM because it's so easy to become unhealthily consumed with the wedding, the job, the greatest fear etc... And if you think of your sleeping as an act of worship, it is easier to do! Approach going to bed like walking into your church sanctuary with a beautiful worship going on. It will make your pre-wedding months so much more enjoyable!!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment