What about your sleep habits? Do you go to bed at a certain time and get up at a certain time? Or do you allow events, people, deadlines, or other circumstances to dictate your sleep schedule? If you’re wise, you will allow yourself adequate time to wind down in order to sleep when you go to bed. We think of sleep as some passive process in which we drift off into oblivion and wake up several hours later well rested. But sleep is an active state. Metabolic and other restorative processes occur during the various stages of sleep. If we don’t sleep long enough for our system to be rejuvenated, we find ourselves irritated by the smallest things, and we tend to overeat. The excess hunger is just our body’s cry for the energy that was supposed to be supplied by a good night’s sleep. David said, ‘I will both lie down in peace, and sleep; for You alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety’ (Psalm 4:8 NKJV). It’s hard to sleep when you have pressing matters on your mind. So if you want to ‘lie down in peace and sleep’, give your worries to God and trust Him to take care of them. If you’re unable to, try this: get a small box with a lid, write down what’s bothering you and put it into the box, put the lid on it and set it up on a shelf in your wardrobe. By that simple act of faith, you’re saying, ‘Lord, I’m giving this to you. When I awaken tomorrow, you will give me the strength and wisdom to deal with it.’ Try it; it works!
