Preparing for Worship – Brianna Childs.
I’ve always been someone who can fall asleep and stay asleep just about anytime, anywhere. I just NEED good sleep or else I am deeply impacted. People vary based on a variety of factors on how much sleep they might need, but it is absolutely true that we all need it. Every area of our lives can be negatively impacted if we go without it.
Because of how easily I sleep for a long time and very deeply, when I have trouble falling asleep, I take a good look inside myself. Something must be going on within me or around me that I need to pay attention to if my sleep is out of sorts.
When I think back on those nights when I had trouble sleeping, it was often because of fear of the unknown, anxiety about situations or conflict in relationships. Maybe you can relate. There are certainly endless sources of traumas, hardships or bodily aches that might affect your sleep. Sometimes all I can think about is taking deep breaths and going back to sleep. Sometimes, however, I think about the nearness of Jesus in those dark and quiet moments. Our anthem today beautifully speaks of Jesus as our “song in the night.” If grief has jarred you awake in the middle of the night, Jesus is ready to be your song. If physical hurt keeps you from falling asleep, Jesus already knows your pain. If your longing for answers to questions makes you toss and turn, Jesus is in the mystery with you ready to offer comfort and peace.
Wherever you may be in relation to sleep in this time in your life, I hope you know that waking or sleeping, Jesus is near. We might not always understand why we cannot be delivered from our grief, receive answers to our questions or just skip over the suffering, but we can know that we have a Friend who is closer than our very breath empathizing with us.
When you encounter those sleepless nights, may you know that you do not have to rush into the light to find God. Instead, I hope you can cling to the truth that our Creator is already with us, in light and in dark, moving with us through all of the waxing and waning in the seasons of our lives. Receive this comfort this morning.