Day of Praise

Thu, 06/25/15, "Day of Praise"

"I will lie down and sleep in peace, for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety." - Psalm 4:8

Kisses on the cheek. A blessing on the forehead. Praying together. The magic words, "Sweet Dreams."

All of these (and more) are treasured bedtime rituals. 

But they're all vain and meaningless and empty, even the prayers, if they're not coupled with 1) a personal relationship with the Lord, 2) calling on the name of the Lord, and 3) claiming the promises of God. All 3 of those elements (relationship, calling, claiming) are implied or explicit in today's verse from Psalm 4:8. 

I remember going through a season of my life (years actually) where I couldn't sleep. Some may call it insomnia, but it wasn't a condition of my body. It was a condition of my mind. I couldn't shut the crazy thing off. 

And then one day, God spoke some ancient and everlasting truth to me, saying, "Hey big guy, ya think you're so smart and strong, but all you're getting is exhausted. How 'bout you let me do the heavy lifting? I know you hold onto all that stuff in your mind because you're worried that it won't get done or it won't get done well enough or it's the wrong thing to be getting done. But holding onto it through the night isn't getting it done. To the contrary, holding onto all that stuff through the night is making you your own worst enemy. And that's the threat to you that I want to defeat. Indeed, I promise, that's the threat to you that I will defeat; namely the threat that you pose to yourself when you think that you can do a better job of bringing peace to projects or conflicts or bedtime than I can. So give it all to me. Put your mind and your fears to rest. I've got you covered. Go 'lie down and sleep in peace'. And oh, don't forget...Sweet dreams."

So now, waking or sleeping, that's what my life is by God's grace and what God wants all our lives to be...a dream, a beautiful unending dream, that just keeps getting better everyday. 

A Sweet Dream indeed. 

"I will lie down and sleep in peace, for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety." - Psalm 4:8

Praise God!

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