It’s Monday morning and it FEELS like a Monday! I’m sleepy and groggy, and yet happy to be in the church office. Just for kicks, I decided to google the phrase, “Does the Bible say anything about sleep?” Wouldn’t you know it? I ran across an article that posed the following questions: “Can a lack of sleep indicate a spiritual problem? Does the Bible say anything to guide us in our sleep patterns? You might be surprised to learn that the answer is ‘yes’ to both questions.”

I like the “yes” answer to the second question, but I’m not so sure about the first one. I’m a lousy sleeper, both in terms of quantity and quality. I don’t want to believe that my problem could be spiritual. Does God love me? Do I really trust Him completely?

When David asks God for relief from his distress, he comes to the conclusion that, “In peace I will lie down and sleep, for you alone, Lord, make me dwell in safety” (Psalm 4:8). Does my inability to sleep reveal a lack of trust in God? And what about the troubling words of Solomon: “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” (Psalm 127:1-2). Yikes! Am I getting up early and staying up late for no reason? Am I not sleeping because I’m not one of “those He loves?”