insomnia Archives – Sonshine's Journal

April 28, 2016

Me, Insomnia and God

1peter 2 insomnia2 Psalm 17 and 1Peter 2:

Peter said we are “living stones.” Even “living stones” experience insomnia; such as when the roar of the heavens and flashes of lightning blow across the landscape. What do you do in those hours as you wonder what the new morning will provide? Although the psalmist most likely was not lying awake in a thunderstorm, he was using his precious nighttime to listen to God and do some self-reflection. How about us? Do we spend time in the night hours reflecting and allowing the Illuminating Holy Spirit to do his work? If we listen we might hear well done OR we may hear him whisper you grieved me and quenched my work within you. It is at that time that we are to apply Peter’s wise counsel: “abstain from fleshly lusts which wage war against the soul.” These are our natural appetites that appeal to our sinful nature and proving we are double-minded as James says.

Thus, we see why the psalmist said: “I have purposed that my mouth will not transgress.” Yes, we purpose and we did that yesterday and the day before and will do it again tomorrow. We are a fickle people who often need this time of self-reflection to see our conformity to this world and why we need the transforming power of the Word to renew our minds. And it must be a daily, moment by moment struggle but we can begin with that purpose as we submit to the Lord.

Beloved, like this living stone, let’s make conscious decisions to do some self-correction much like a sailor does out on the water.

February 17, 2014

G.A.P. = God Answers Prayer (God opens Prison Doors)

We have walked alongside Peter from a small fishing village to a mountain top to his fearless preaching in the Temple. We have seen one who denied and yet was restored that he may lead the church in its beginning stages. We relate so much to Peter for his faltering steps are much like ours and our hearts yearn to meet him in glory! We have seen his impulsiveness and say, that is me. We see his denial and we say I have done the same once or twice. We see his love for Jesus when he said “if you are the Master, tell me come to you on the water.” And now in this chapter Dr. Luke will give us one more glimpse of his last days in Jerusalem with the exception of Acts 15. We find Peter in prison having earned the ire of Herod. And once again and as he has done before, Peter falls fast asleep. Peter it seems never has a problem with insomnia! He slept while Jesus prayed and He slept while Moses and Enoch talked with Jesus on the mountain. He just closes his eyes and falls asleep! This time, to be sure that Peter does not escape, Herod has him chained to guards in his prison. But man’s chains are no match for the saints’ prayers!

God is pleased with the saints’ prayers and often as he bends his ear to our words his heart is open to receive and answer as we beg. We must be like the Canaanite woman unwilling to give up but to seek an answer. When a brother or sister is imprisoned in some way, do we earnestly beg God for their deliverance according to His will or if truth be known is our mind here and there scattered with many thoughts or do we like Peter fall asleep on the watch? We would do well to take a lesson from these early believers whose very lives surrounded a lengthy time in earnest prayer. We remember what James wrote: “The prayer of a righteous person has great effectiveness.” Would that we be like the early church who pounded the doors of heaven for God to answer and deliver.

When Peter is released by an angelic visitor who had to shake him awake and lead him like a child outside the prison walls, we find him knocking at the door of where the believers were sequestered. He might have muttered: it was easier getting out of prison than getting into Mary’s house! Continuously knocking and finally gaining entrance the believers were astonished to see how God answered! Beloved, trust in the G.A.P. method…God Answers Prayers.

August 2, 2013

Chasing Sleep…for the Umpteenth Time.

Last night was one of those nights in which I chased sleep. If you have never had insomnia then you can forget Psalm 77 but if you are like me or you have ever spent a night chasing sleep, you might want to stop and think about what Asaph is teaching us through his experience.

Insomnia is defined by the dictionary as an inability to obtain sufficient sleep, especially when chronic; difficulty in falling or staying asleep; sleeplessness. This what Asaph experienced and I do quite often. Why is that? What is the cause? For some it is the worry syndrome, a sin for sure since we are commanded to not worry. For some it is a metabolic imbalance and for others it is being wired due to some exciting news. No matter the cause the results are the same: bone weariness upon arising.

In Ps 77 Asaph tells us what he does in those times. Note vs 1,2, 3, 5 and 10. He cries out to God, He recalls God and His attributes, He prays all night long, He consider a possible cause, and finally comes to the conclusion that if he verbalizes his frustration at the lack of sleep and its cause this too will pass. What do you do at times like this?

But more importantly than verbalizing his state of mind he begins to consider the character of God and how although himself has become a vagabond, God has been there even in the silence. He questions God’s character but then in vs. 10 realizes how futile an exercise this is because God is “Num 23:19 God is not a man, that he should lie, nor a human being, that he should change his mind. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not make it happen? It is when Asaph realizes this that he changes from “oh woe is me,” to “How Great Thou Art!”

George Rogers once wrote: A good man cannot rest upon his bed until his soul rests upon God. That is a truth we need to remember when we have nights when we are chasing sleep.