Sleep can be highly conditional.
Physical impediments such as bright lights, loud music, snoring partners, and crying babies all certainly have their impact. However, our mental state seems to be of even greater consequence. For while we may become adept with time at sleeping through distractions, we can be relentlessly plagued by worry or doubt. Our bodies may be lying down, but our minds are deep in replay overanalyzing interactions from the day and conjuring up new concerns. The paradox it seems is that when we most need rest, it is the most difficult to achieve.
How different is life though when we find ourselves at peace? Once elusive rest is now easily realized and our racing minds are suddenly still. We want to hold onto these fleeting moments, but we rarely stop to analyze what got us there, how we can remain, and how we can get back. The author of Psalm 16 offers this insight:
“The wise counsel God gives when I’m awake
is confirmed by my sleeping heart.”
Peace and rest in the Psalm serve as a confirmation of right living. And when you consider it, we have intuited this as a society as well. Who hasn’t heard the saying, “how do you sleep with yourself at night?” It is in reference to someone acting in a reprehensible or immoral way and now facing the challenge to rest with that on their conscience. Therefore the pathway to lasting peace and rest must be through living rightly and trusting in a power greater than myself.
Deep within us we know right from wrong. Unfortunately with time our understanding becomes clouded by the capricious society in which we live. Perhaps if we took a step back from today’s world and alternatively baselined ourselves against the timeless truths we might achieve this confirmation peace in a more frequent and lasting manner. For life itself will not get any easier, but our ability to find peace and rest in the midst of the struggle is what will ultiamately carry us through.