Perfect Rest
“Thou will keep in
perfect peace whose mind is stayed on Thee.”
Isaiah 26:3
Ty’s wife sat with a psychiatrist
wondering what she could do to stop his snoring. Sympathetic, the psychiatrist said, “Does it
bother you?” “No, it embarrasses me. It’s
the rest of the congregation that’s bothered.”
Preachers get a bad rap, don’t they?
Sometimes it’s deserved…I take that back; most of the time it’s
deserved.
Actually, the Bible
gives an amazing account in Acts 20 of another man named
Ty who came to church and an unexpected
thing occurred: “On
Sunday, we gathered for a Communion service, with Paul preaching. And since he was leaving the next day, he
talked until midnight! The upstairs room
where we met was lighted with many flickering lamps; and as Paul spoke on and
on, a young man named Eutychus, sitting on the windowsill, went fast asleep and
fell three stories to his death below.
Paul went down and took him into his arms. ‘Don’t worry,’ he said, ‘He’s all right!’ and
he was. What a wave of awesome joy swept
through the crowd! They all went back upstairs and ate the Lord’s Supper
together; (not to be dissuaded) then Paul preached another long sermon-so it
was dawn when he finally left them!” (v. 7-12; TLB). And you think our churches go over a little
occasionally. Here you have the first
case in recorded history where a man is bored to death (or preached to
death). That would have been a
humiliating blemish on Paul’s resume.
While picturing this
scene may crack a smile, sleep is no longer a laughing matter. Though pastors can have complicity to some
degree, usually it’s our own choice, and we’re paying a severe price for
it. Sleep scientists say we’re a nation
of people who aren’t getting enough sleep and cheating ourselves out of at
least one hour a day. Consequently, we
are less productive and alert than we could be.
We’re also more likely to be forgetful, angry, cranky, and irritable.
Although sleep
requirements vary, Americans are generally trading sleep for work, television,
and activities. And you can bet
that, as Christians, it is affecting our spiritual walk. Be on your guard. The enemy will use a simple and practical discipline
as this to wreak havoc on our spiritual state:
1) It affects our ability and desire to read
His Word: At the least, tiredness
will allow the enemy to shortcut your devotions or gain little from them. At the most, we risk skipping out on them all
together which forfeits His strength and growth in us. (Isaiah 26:3)
2) It affects our ability and desire to hear
God’s Word: Wearing down physically
assures your attention span will rank low on the receptivity scale. (Romans
10:17)
3) It affects our ability and desire to pray: A tired believer will rarely be a prayerful
believer. (2 Thessalonians 1:11)
4) It affects our ability and desire to invest
in our greatest priorities: God,
your spouse, your children, family and friends usually get a short-fused, less
than Spirit-filled response if we don’t put order in this area of our
lives. (Matthew 11:28, 29)
As practical as it
may seem, these areas play an important role in our spiritual well-being. The experts suggest exercising regularly,
eating a proper diet and avoiding certain jolting drinks… six hours before
bed. But Spiritual rest comes from a Good
Book, a pure heart, and frequent times of prayer. Oh, and if you snore…try not to interrupt the rest of
the church.
Terry Risser
Reflections:
1) On a scale from 1-10 (10
being best), how would you describe your sleep habits?
2) What might God want to do in
this area to help you be more effective?
Consider reading the Word today:
Copyright 2014- Terry Risser
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