Dear Lord; Good morning Father. First off Lord, let me apologize in advance. Last night was rough, and I’m not terribly “with it” today I’m afraid. As You well know, I’ve suffered with insomnia on and off since I was 12 years old. Well, last night it came back in all fervor and I ended up only getting a few hours respite before having to start my day.
This was an odd bout of sleeplessness Father. Usually, it simply manifests itself as my mind going a mile-a-minute and not being able to shut down. Last night however, I also had physical symptoms as well; My heart was racing, my chest was tight and I felt overwhelmingly anxious. I have no clue what brought it on, but it lasted for a good bit of the night. I tried praying in the darkness, slow breathing techniques, and finally resorted to a sleeping pill but nothing seemed to calm my restless spirit. Finally, plain old exhaustion took over and I passed out for a while.
It’s been ages since this has happened Lord, and I’d forgotten how unsettling it is.
This morning, I headed for Your “Instruction Manual” to see what wisdom I could glean about this recent development, and of course came away with some things to think about.
“In vain you rise early and stay up late, toiling for food to eat— for he grants sleep to those he loves.” – Psalm 127:2
Ok, I get it… Sleep is one of Your Gifts to us as well, and I need to remember that and Accept it from You (there’s that word of mine again…).
“In peace I will lie down and sleep, for you alone, LORD, make me dwell in safety.” – Psalm 4:8
I obviously need to focus on this as well Lord. With the turmoil in our lives today, we sometimes allow our worldly anxieties to overwhelm us, and I’m sure that contributed to the tumultuous night I had. I need to let go of the day’s struggles, and dwell in Your Peace when I lay down.
Heavenly Father, please help my mind be in steadfast focus on Your Everlasting Peace. May we all learn to leave our burdens at Your Feet, and Accept Your Calming Comfort in our lives. Amen.
~Phather Phil
Hi, I’m Phil Malmstrom, a.k.a. Phather Phil. I’m self-employed, father of two wonderful young men, an ordained minister who delights in spreading Jesus’ Message of Hope and Love, a science-fiction junkie, an aspiring photographer and above all that one of God’s Children who rejoices in His Blessings each day. 
We can lay our burdens as His feet and leave them there. I can rest in peace, because God is always awake, and I thank Him for the gift of sleep.
Hope you are able to rest tonight!
Thank you Lisa… We can indeed. I was able to get some rest last night, and feel all the better for it today.
Have a Blessed Day!
We can rest easy because God is always there and always awake watching over us. You are in my prayers today. Praying God gives you the strength you need for the day and gives you a restful sleep tonight. Blessings!
Thank you Jenifer, you’re completely right. Thankfully, I was able to give him my burdens last night, and Accept his Gift of sleep. 🙂
Have a Blessed Day!
I’m so sorry you had a rough night… I hate that! Those verses are wonderful, I’m going to share your post with my husband today. Praising God that He’s already giving you clarity on the situation and praying that you’ll be strengthened through the day as the sleepiness catches us with you!
Thank you Heidi! He did indeed give me the clarity and focus I needed yesterday, and last night was much more restful.
Have a Blessed Day!
I LOVE those verses. I used to (and still do sometimes) have trouble sleeping. I claim these verses and dare that devil to try to get in. I still have weird dreams sometimes (had one last night actually) and I know they are Satan’s way of carrying over my anxious thoughts into what should be a peaceful sleep.
I’m thinking that I’ll read these right before I go to sleep and ask God to grant me a peaceful, dreamless (or at least ‘good’ dream) sleep.
Thanks 🙂
Isn’t it amazing how He really does have instructions and guidance for every situation we experience? The focus I found in those verses helped me a great deal, and last night was much more restful.
Have a Blessed Day!
I hate those restless nights. I’ll pray that God will give you peaceful sleep this evening. Now, I have a blog question. (I couldn’t find your email adress, sorry.) I keep getting spam posts as comments…4-6 a day. How do I block all spammers to my blog?
God Bless,
Bryan
Thank you for your prayers Bryan, and yes… Last night was a marked improvement. 🙂
I emailed you the information on how to fix the spamming issue for your site. Please let me know if you need help getting it set up.
Have a Blessed Day!