Dear Heavenly Father,
As a little girl....that is until the day I left for college, my dad would always be the one to wake me up in the morning, and every morning it would take him three tries to get me out of bed. He would come in once and say, "It's time to get up." The second time he would come in and say, "You don't wanna sleep your life away." Which at the time didn't sound like a bad idea at all. And then the third time he would come in singing, "I woke up this mornin' feelin' fine....I woke up with heaven on my mind...." And, Lord, you know good and well that you didn't bless my father with a good singing voice, and I think part of that reason was just so he could get me out of bed in the morning. Once my dad started singing I couldn't wake up fast enough just to get the noise to stop. A bad singing voice is the last thing you wanna hear early in the morning.
The verse that struck a cord with me today, Lord, has to do with sleep and it comes from Proverbs 20:13.
"Do not love sleep or you will grow poor; stay awake and you will have food to spare."
You know, Lord, often times there will be something festering in my heart that I know I need to change but I will continue to ignore it or make excuses for it. Then I will read a passage like this one in the Bible that knocks me in the head and finally kicks my butt in gear. I know full well that I need to spend my days productive, serving You, helping others, and doing the work of a mom and wife. There are often days where I want to just lay around with the kids and be lazy. I give the excuse that I'm not technically doing "nothing" because I'm spending quality time with my children, but me being lazy is not good for my kids to see. What am I teaching them by sitting on my rear all day. There is a time to sit and play with them and there is a time to get up and get things done, and I believe that they need to see plenty of both.
I do believe that some people are blessed with higher energy than others.....and I just happen to be one of those 'others.' My whole life I have needed a lot of sleep. I remember as a little girl going to spend the night with a friend and staying up late only to end up sick for the next few days because I didn't get the sleep I needed. I am not one of those high energy people that go, go, go constantly.
But, Lord, after reading this verse I am reminded that the sleepy heads aren't rewarded. It's the ones who work hard that are rewarded. I'm almost certain, Lord, that you mean this verse in two different ways. I think You mean it literally, in that the more we work, the more food we will have left over. The more money we will have, in other words. The less we will have to worry about food or money or other life essentials. We will work hard and in return provide our family with all they need and more. But I also believe You mean this spiritually. If we let our faith go on autopilot or we slack in our work for You then we will not find the abundance of blessings that You could be providing for us had we been productive and serving You. When we are awake we are given the opportunity to learn more, to serve more, to give more. When we are asleep we are given no opportunities and therefore no rewards. I don't think this is one of those commandments where it will keep us from spending eternity with You, Lord, but I do believe that You are trying to make our lives better here on earth by giving us this wise advice.
Sleep is one of those wonderful blessings, Lord, that You have given to us to enjoy. And it should be enjoyed, but it should be done at the right time and for the right amount of time. I also believe, Lord, that You have given us the tools and resources we need in order to have energy....and I don't just mean caffeine. I'm talking about our diet. I believe that many of the foods we eat today only make it harder for our body to function day in and day out like it should. I am only saying this because for the last two months or so I have cut out sugar, starch, grains, and dairy and I feel absolutely amazing. I don't even need a nap anymore. I have more energy to get stuff done and I feel great the whole day through. And then come bed time I have noticed that I fall asleep quickly and despite waking up with the kids often I still get a very restful nights sleep. I think food is one of the many tools that we can use to get us up and going through out the day to serve You more.
I pray, Lord, that I remember this verse, and that today and everyday after I will use my day wisely....full of serving and not sleeping. Lord, I know that serving honors You and that sleeping the day away does nobody any good. Give me the energy to be productive and give me wisdom to fill my days with the things that honor You. Thank you for the blessing of sleep and I pray that I use it in the way You ask me to in Proverbs 20:13. I love You, Lord. In Jesus Name, Amen.
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