Selah2020: Pause and Reflect

[This is one in a series of devotional reflections prepared for Horley Baptist Church during September 2021]

Do you suffer from insomnia? You may not be sharing the nightmare journey of the Lord Chancellor in Gilbert & Sullivan’s ‘Iolanthe’ when he crosses the Channel in a bathing machine and cycles across Salisbury plain wearing only his shirt and socks. Nonetheless, sleep eludes you and a shortage of sheep to count leaves you tossing and turning.

Have you ever noticed how so many sermons seem to address the problem of insomnia? Admittedly, most of them were not intended to do so but listening to them may well send you to sleep. Don’t feel guilty – both you and the preacher are in good company; the Bible relates an incident when the apostle Paul preached for so long that one of the congregation dropped off.

Seated in a window was a young man named Eutychus, who was sinking into a deep sleep as Paul talked on and on. When he was sound asleep, he fell to the ground from the third storey and was picked up dead. Acts 20 v9 [NIVUK].

Eutychus was restored to life and throughout church history his experience has been a salutary lesson to preacher and hearer alike. On the other hand, if the sermon doesn’t send you to sleep then maybe God has something to say to you as you listen. The stories of Joseph, Esther and Daniel all tell of God using insomnia to get his message across.

We are often at our most vulnerable when asleep. Adam lost a rib, Samson lost his hair, Sisera lost his life^[1]. (It’s interesting that a woman was involved in each case!) Nevertheless, sleep is a blessing from God; he who neither slumbers or sleeps will watch over us as we replenish our physical energy.

Another way to tackle insomnia is to try to pray. So often when we try to stay awake to pray the opposite happens, but once again you are in good company. Peter, James and John were asked to keep watch with Jesus during that final night in Gethsemane but they fell asleep.

Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. ‘Couldn’t you men keep watch with me for one hour?’ he asked [Matthew 26 v40 NIVUK]

Recently, we were told of the advantages of getting up early to pray. If only we could. How many times have you got up early, closed your eyes to pray and … sweet dreams! Once again we have a Biblical example that we should aim to emulate:

Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed. [Mark 1 v35 NIVUK]

Learning to pray like this is not easy, it requires persistence and a re-assessment of our priorities. We might need to rearrange our evenings so that we are able to get sufficient sleep in advance. Maybe we need to put some measures in place so that we are forced to get up or to prevent us from being distracted. Here is some advice from Jesus:

But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. [Matthew 6 v6 NIVUK]

Lord, teach us to pray.

[1] Genesis 2 v21-22, Judges 4 v21, Judges 16 v19.

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