Sleeplessness is a Drag

I’m not sure what has happened, but the past few nights have me sleeping less than normal! I wake about halfway between midnight and 6 a.m., and it’s impossible to drift off.

3:12 a.m. is beginning to look normal!

The problem? This is not a strange occurrence. It happens every so often, and the time on the clock will change, but the sleeplessness happens for about a week. Then, presto! All is well, and sleep returns to normal.

I’m no stranger to these weird sleep patterns. If I sleep more than 6 hours, okay, maybe 5 hours, then I feel restless and know it’s time to get up.

But what do you do when the whole house is asleep? I don’t want to disturb anyone, so I tiptoe around and find a corner to nestle myself into, and then focus on being busy! No noisemakers! Maybe I can drift away to slumberland sitting in my chair.

No. Well. Then what?

Back in the day of schooling, I got a lot of work done before the sun rose. I’m not currently taking or teaching, so, today, I blog. It’s something about my purpose of writing that I can unfold my case of logic and have it posted about the time everyone else is waking up. Even reading my post later in the day, my logic is sound. My mind is not sleep deprived and writing some drivel, rather, it won’t shut off!

Sunday mornings will find me up around 4 a.m. polishing my lesson or sermon for the day. That’s my traditional long day. But other days of the week?

What To Do?

I struggle with finding the answer. Why am I waking like this?

The bedroom is cool, distractions are turned off and away, and yet, the middle of the night finds me waking. Wondering. What’s going on that I’m alert? I listen for the dog barking outside, maybe she woke me. I’m conscious for movement in the house, maybe my bride is moving around. Has the weather turned?

I check through my mind for disturbances, range through my schedule for deadlines, and then, I check in with my spirit. Perhaps someone’s in need of prayer. Was there a cry in the night from someone desperate for consolation? Is someone sick?

After I run through these mental checklists, I slip out of the room, make my way to the coffee pot, and sit in my chair for a while. Thinking it through.

There is always something to do. My schedule is full of mind numbing tasks, but these few hours in the middle of the night have me enjoying the peace and quiet. If only for a few hours.

Here’s My Thought

Of all those we find in scripture, two stand out that seem to deal with life in the middle of the night.

One of them, Job, we sort of understand. He was going through great suffering and probably struggled with rest. In fact, he talks about things that happen in the night. I can relate tangently. When I hurt, the night has no answer.

The other one is David. He weeps and prays at night. His burdens as a king were enormous. But he was a man after God’s own heart. In one psalms he writes.

“Yours is the day, yours also the night; you have established the heavenly lights and the sun.”  Psalms 74:16 (ESV)

The day and night belongs to God. He established the lights that rule the day and night. So. I don’t worry. If there is a reason for this middle of the night sleeplessness, eventually I will know the reason.

An old song we used to sing.

When trouble is in my way
I can’t tell my night from day
When I’m tossed from side to side
Like a ship out on a ragin’ tide
I don’t worry, I don’t fret
My God has never failed me yet
Troubles come from time to time
But that’s alright I’m not the worryin’ kind

Because, I’ve got confidence
God is gonna see me through
No matter what the case may be
I know He’s gonna fix it for me… [Andrae Crouch]

I know. My confidence. No stress. Worries. Or sleeplessness. Nothing will sway me, nor persuade me. Trusting God for the answer.