My Elusive Friend

Sleep. It’s a neat trick if you can do it, I thought, as I read the choices on my computer to sleep, hibernate or shut down. I clicked on “sleep” and decided to once more go to bed. Exhausted, I had retired over an hour ago, but slumber had eluded me. None of the ways I arranged a pillow under my knee relieved my discomfort. Apparently I had damaged it through overuse climbing stairs over a month ago on a trip to see family.

Besides that, my head was hurting, no doubt from sinus pressure, worse when I lay down. And that’s when my knee hurts worse. I can live with it during the day, but five minutes after I lie down and it seems sleep is just around the corner, it begins to throb. My tossing and turning were sending excruciating stabs through it, so I struggled to lie still. Sometimes I fear I have RLS--restless leg syndrome.

Not only that, I was cold. My husband had the temperature set just the way he liked it, and he always noticed when I turned it up. That’s when I gave up, threw off the cover, and felt my way back into the living room and opened my laptop. I knew it would make it harder to drift off after looking at the lighted screen, but I couldn’t sleep anyway. It had been like this for days on end, with only a few hours of sleep each night, and I knew it was taking its toll.

After checking all my sites, I went to the kitchen for a snack. Not that I was hungry after a late supper, but a bowl of cereal could sometimes be counted on for a few winks. Finally I fell asleep with the additional help of Tylenol PM and allergy medicine.

Psalms 127:2, tells us, “It is vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrows: for so he giveth his beloved sleep.” I know that the best sleep I get comes from Him. My husband practices putting on the whole armor of God to ward off bad dreams and disturbed sleep, and I often do that, too. The only reason I sometimes sit up late is so I hopefully won’t wake up prematurely. About the time I’m sleeping well, dawn begins to lighten my window, I hear the birds singing, and it’s time to get up. For me, “eating the bread of sorrows”, or worrying, is only about not sleeping. Lord, I’m ready for You to give Your beloved some sleep!