Can You Sleep?

We watch the news. We read the papers. We hear of the things some have done. We ask, “Where is the conscience?” And we wonder how such people are able to SLEEP at night.

What did Jonah do after boarding the ship for Tarshish?
“(5) Then the mariners were afraid, and each cried out to his god. And they hurled the cargo that was in the ship into the sea to lighten it for them. But Jonah had gone down into the inner part of the ship and HAD LAIN DOWN AND WAS FAST ASLEEP. (6) So the captain came and said to him, ‘What do you mean, YOU SLEEPER Arise, call out to your god! Perhaps the god will give a thought to us, that we may not perish.’” ( Jonah 1:5-6 ESV)

Was Jonah spiritually weary? Was he hoping he could awake to have his problems behind him? Sometimes depression and guilt are dealt with by withdrawing from the world; remaining in bed rather than getting up and involved in life. Have we ever experienced such feelings? Jonah’s actions should have weighed heavily on his mind. He was not right with God!

The sailors woke Jonah up because they saw their dilemma as a time for prayer not for SLEEP. Maybe Jonah didn’t feel like talking to God right then. If he fell asleep he could avoid thinking. Have we ever gone to bed and did not feel like praying because we knew there was something of which we needed to confess to God and repent? When we most feel like not praying is the time we need most to pray. Remember God’s awareness of our every situation. When we are willing to hand our cares and struggles over to God, then we will find the SLEEP that is most restful. It is then that we will be able to wake renewed within to press on in the new day the Lord provides.

Remember Paul’s exhortation to the church at Ephesus: “(26) Be angry and do not sin; DO NOT LET THE SUN GO DOWN on your anger, (27) and give no opportunity to the devil.” ( Ephesians 4:26-27 ESV)

Nothing is solved in our refusal to deal with our struggles. To hold it within only causes them to get further entrenched in our lives. Anger is one of the areas we need to seek God’s strength and wisdom in order for the anger to not master us.

In contrast to Jonah, Jesus was able to sleep during a storm ( Luke 8:22-25) because He was at peace with the Father and understood Who was in control. This is the kind of peace God desires to bring to our lives. Through a proper relationship with Him we can then find a peaceful rest that will truly benefit us physically, emotionally, and spiritually.

Paul admonished:
“(6) So then LET US NOT SLEEP, as others do, BUT LET US KEEP AWAKE AND BE SOBER. (7) For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, are drunk at night. (8) But since WE BELONG TO THE DAY, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation.” ( 1 Thessalonians 5:6-8 ESV)

Have a great day EXPERIENCING THE PEACE OF BEING RIGHT WITH GOD!
Carl

See other teEn-MAIL on Jonah