Restless night - Devotion for 11/10/08

Restless night – Devotion for 11/10/08

You ever have one of those nights that you simply can’t get any rest at all? Maybe it is that you are filled with anxiety and worry over something going on in your life. Or maybe it is that you can’t sleep because you don’t feel well. Or maybe even it is that your spouse is snoring a bit much. Saturday night was one of those restless nights for me. It had nothing at all to do with worry or anxiety, because I was pretty much at peace with the world. It had nothing to do with not feeling well, because frankly I felt pretty darn good. It didn’t even have anything to do with my spouse snoring (on this occasion). No instead it had to do with constant interruptions. Somewhere around 1:00, my youngest son came in to tell me he really needed to show me something, and when I asked him what, he replied, “I don’t know, but I really gotta show you this thing.” Aaron went on to explain that it was this “thing” that did all these awesome and amazing things, and I finally in my sleepy haze began to realize that Aaron was sleepwalking-and-talking, as he has been known to do from time to time. Though I found our conversation tremendously amusing, I also was completely exhausted so I was finally able to get him back to bed. Then around 3:00, my other son came into the room telling us that he thought he was going to throw up, and so with all the love that father could manage at 3AM, I told him “Well, go to the bathroom!” Jacob did not throw up, which I was tremendously grateful for, however by the time I got him settled back down into bed, and then by the time I got settled back down into bed, our crazy dog Oscar was deciding that 3:30 was a perfect time to play! Between all of these interruptions, something kept hitting me about the message for Sunday morning, and even though I had thought previously I was going in one direction, I was beginning to see and understand something much different, which I subsequently got up and incorporated into the message. I felt this complete peace with the new message, and I actually became grateful for the middle of the night interruptions.

I thought about that experience this afternoon as I read Psalm 16. Verse 7 of that psalm reads, “I will bless the Lord who has counseled me; indeed, my mind instructs me in the night.” I think that many times God does speak to us in those long sleepless nights, and those long restless nights provide ample opportunity for God to instruct and help us to face hard facts. And though I tend to be one who gripes and complains about such restless nights, truthfully I should bless the Lord because it is those nights that I usually find clarity. Maybe when we all have those kinds of nights we need to listen a little more closely to what God is saying as He counsels and instructs us.