Does God Love Insomniacs?

For many years, I worked as a hotel night manager, and I spent a good deal of time thinking about sleep. My hours were 11 PM to 7 AM, so I was often asked, “When do you sleep?” “Do you have problems sleeping while it’s light?” “Do you nod off during your shift?”

As the night manager, I had accounting duties, parked a few cars and -- since I was the only person working overnight -- plunged some toilets. My chief occupation, though, was doing what I could to help guests sleep.

If you think about it, the opportunity to sleep is the basic product a hotel sells. I made up sofa beds and provided extra blankets. I was available to provide foam pillows to those allergic to feather pillows. I hushed drunks making noise outside doors and windows.

But no hotel guarantees sleep. Some people require absolute silence for sleep, so the occasional car or truck outside their window or the hum of the heater or air conditioner interrupts their slumber. Other people need a bit of noise to sleep – music or the hum of the heater or air conditioner. Some people just have difficulty sleeping in a strange place.

People take their sleep seriously. The Grand Vividus bed from Swedish manufacturer Hästens sells for around a million dollars. People spend millions each year on drugs to induce sleep. Even so, you can’t make yourself sleep -- or, for that matter, make anyone else sleep.

Medical science agrees that sleep is important, but no one knows all the reasons why sleep is important. Drug-induced sleep doesn’t seem to have all the benefits of natural sleep – but why? Eleven days is the longest we know that anyone has gone without sleep. (If you question my facts here, I got them from an episode of “House.” Blame Hugh Laurie or somebody.)

In spite of all Dr. House – or anybody else – can do, millions of people suffer from a lack of sleep.

Insomnia is a symptom of a variety of physical and psychological maladies. New parents certainly know the trials of sleeplessness. Medical professionals are among many whose work keeps them from a regular eight hours of slumber every twenty-four.

Psalm 127: 1 & 2 says this:

Unless the Lord builds the house,

the builders labor in vain.

Unless the Lord watches over the city,

the guards stand watch in vain.

In vain you rise early

and stay up late,

toiling for food to eat—

for he grants sleep to those he loves.

So what is Psalms 127:2 saying to those who have trouble falling asleep and staying asleep?

A pastor friend, Becca, found herself awake through long stretches of the night. She knew this Psalm, and deep in the night, she’d wonder, “God, do you love me?”

I think many of us might ask that same question.

My daughter had a hard time going to sleep many nights. She lay in her bed awake, and then began to worry. All those worries grew larger than they ever would during daylight hours. The worry that grows in many sleepless beds is whether or not God really cares.

So why would God ever allow His children to go without sleep?

Sleep in Scripture is certainly presented in a number of ways, just like other human needs. (But we need to be clear that “sleep” in the Bible sometimes refers to death, and we’re not talking about that here. Let’s not get confused like Jesus’ disciples did in John 11: 11 – 13.)

Just as food is a blessing from God but also the means to gluttony, and sex is lauded in the Song of Songs but also an object of abuse elsewhere in the Bible, sleep is a blessing from God but also the stumbling block of the slothful.

Sleep’s negative side might be best represented in Proverbs 6: 9 – 11. “How long will you lie there, you sluggard? When will you get up from your sleep? A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest – and poverty will come on you like a bandit and scarcity like an armed man.”

I’ve noticed this dark side of sleep is often what we focus on in the church. At least in American churches, we pride ourselves on our busy lives and brag about how we just don’t have time to sleep. We hear stories (often from the pulpit or prominent podcasters) of the spiritual giants who forgo sleep in order to have time for their devotions.

On the other hand, sleeping too much can come from a lack of discipline. It may also be a sign of depression or illness. Sleeping too much can be as difficult a handicap as a lack of sleep.

The pleasures and perils of sleep are part and parcel of our physical nature. We are made in God’s image, but just as God doesn’t hunger and thirst, He has no need for sleep (Psalm 121:4).

We’re different from God in this way, but Jesus, because He was fully human as well as fully God, knew what it was like to be tired. When Jesus met the woman at the well, He was tired (John 4:6). In Luke 8, during the storm at sea while the disciples fear that their ship may be swamped, Jesus is asleep.

We also see Jesus battling in prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane while His closest friends catch Zs. It’s the most crucial hour of history, and their sleep is a shameful thing.

So what’s the bottom line here? Is sleep a good thing or a bad thing? Is it a sign of God’s blessing or of a slothful nature? Should the model Christian look tired, haggard from a day of service followed by a sleepless night of prayer, or a model of serenity exuding God’s peace and rest?

The answer to these questions is, of course, an emphatic yes.

God gives contented sleep as a choice blessing to His people. Abraham, Jacob, Peter and many others experienced God’s presence and direction during sleep. Still, in 2 Corinthians 11:27, Paul wrote about going without sleep, one of the many trials he suffered for the sake of the Gospel.

So God does seem to love and use both those who are getting sufficient REM sleep and those who aren’t. It’s interesting that sleep is just one of the perks mentioned in Psalm 127. Others include housing, security, work, and children. But this Psalm isn’t a guarantee of these things.

Jesus said He had no home of His own. The cross proved His life wasn’t one of safety. During the last three years of His life on earth, He worked hard, but relied on the generosity of others for a place to sleep and food to eat, and if you believe Scripture rather than The DaVinci Code, He had no children. He didn’t have wealth. He couldn’t even count on His friends in His darkest hour, yet His Father attested that Jesus was His Beloved Son.

God was pleased with Jesus, but Jesus had more than His share of short and sleepless nights, according to the Gospels.

If we follow the example of Jesus, we will not always have sleep. But if we put our trust in Him, ultimately we will have rest.