Sleepless nights

“Why are you afraid?” _Jesus, (Matthew 8:26)

“I will put my trust in the Lord.” _King David, (Psalm 11:1)

*****

I have more sleepless nights than I’d like to admit.

I wake up in the early hours of the morning and lay there worrying about the future, a current pressing problem, and a dozen other things. (I have no trouble quickly compiling a first-rate list of things to worry about.)

Maybe its my personality to worry, but I suspect that I am not alone in this expertise. Perhaps that is why the bible has so much to say about the subject.

Over the years I’ve learned a lot about navigating these sleepless nights. I often go to the story of Jesus asleep on the boat in the middle of a life-threatening storm.

Jesus asleep, the disciples awake…(sounds very familiar).

But I’ve learned to do like the disciples, I wake Jesus…

…and I complain,

I nag,

I ask him why he doesn’t seem to care,

and I explain to him how bad it is and tell him what he ought to do.

Of course he’s patient but eventually he asks me the same thing that he asked those first disciples – “Why are you afraid?”

And the answer is always the same – “I’m afraid, not because of the severity of the problems, but because I’ve gotten my attention off Him and onto my problems.”

And like King David, to conquer my fear, I have to recalibrate my focus and attention back onto Jesus.

The ONE THING for today: When challenges and crisis arise do not try to learn more about the problem, learn more about God.  (Or better yet, remind yourself of what you already know.)

So the next time you have a sleepless night, wake Jesus and let him share the night with you.