[A ‘Tuesday Challenge‘ originally prepared for the congregation of Horley Baptist Church during July 2026]
All their days their work is grief and pain; even at night their minds do not rest.
Ecclesiastes 2 v23 [NIVUK]
We have all, at some time or another, had the experience of lying awake when we want to be in the land of Nod. Sleep eludes us, to be replaced by persistent worries or mental gymnastics beyond our daytime capabilities; our only consolation is that we are not sharing the experiences described by the Lord Chancellor in ‘Iolanthe’.[1] Even Job started to lose his patience:
I have no peace, no quietness; I have no rest, but only turmoil.
Job 3 v26 [NIVUK]
One way to deal with insomnia is to listen to a pre-recorded sermon. One of the consequences of COVID is the large number of sermons and Christian teaching videos and podcasts available online. Choose one from one of your favourite preachers (but refrain from telling them if cures your insomnia!). Alternatively try one from a different denomination so you can start to analyse why you agree or disagree with what is said.
Of course, if the sermon or podcast does not put you to sleep then it is likely that you will be blessed by what you hear.
For God does speak – now one way, now another – though no one perceives it. In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falls on people as they slumber in their beds,
Job 33 v14-15 [NIVUK]
An adequate amount of physical and mental rest is part of God’s provision for our well-being. As the Israelites began their journey to the Promised Land they were given an instruction on when to rest.
Six days do your work, but on the seventh day do not work, so that your ox and your donkey may rest, and so that the slave born in your household and the foreigner living among you may be refreshed.
Exodus 23 v12 [NIVUK]
Notwithstanding the need for rest there is a risk of over-doing the relaxation:
A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest and poverty will come on you like a thief and scarcity like an armed man.
Proverbs 6 v10-11 [NIVUK]
Last week we considered the importance of completing the work that God has assigned to us. We are tempted to strive to earn the final accolade “Well done, good and faithful servant!”[2] but we forget that God’s programme also allows us time for recuperative rest.
Complying with the commandment quoted above may have been relatively easy when everyone else is under the same obligation, but how do we reconcile it with a society whose priorities are very different? How do we find the right balance when our commitments do not leave us much time to rest?
The writer of Ecclesiastes reminds us that “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heaven”.[3] That principle extends to activity and repose alike, and we need to recognise the importance of both.
Finally, we recall the words of Jesus:
Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.
Matthew 11 v28 [NIVUK]
References:
[1] ‘Iolanthe’, Gilbert and Sullivan, 1882
[2] Matthew 25:21
[3] Ecclesiastes 3:1
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Last week’s reflection: Have You Completed Your Assignment?
Contributed by Steve Humphreys; © Steve Humphreys