Peaceful Sleep
Posted in Daily Focus on Wednesday, August 20, 2014
“Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you” (1 Peter 5:7).
The human body’s need for sleep has always amazed me. God has designed us to literally turn off like a machine for eight hours or more each night. Science tells us sleep is something our bodies need to do. It is not an option. During our sleeping hours, some parts of the brain actually increase their activity dramatically, and certain hormones are produced by many of the body’s major organs and regulatory systems that continue to work.
Unfortunately, as a young homeschooling mom, I was missing out on my much needed sleep. I struggled with daily worries and anxious thoughts like “Will my children turn out okay if I homeschool? How can I teach a subject I don’t even know? How will we pay the bills if I homeschool?” Household chores were also keeping me up late into the night, and I was exhausted as I tried to do too much.
Then one night, I read a promise God seemed to write just to me: “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” (Psalm 127:2). What an eye-opener! God only had so much for me to do each day, and what was left undone was not important. All He asked of me was to pray for wisdom to accomplish His perfect will each day. His provision to meet my unfinished tasks would come by sending extra help, inspiring new ways to organize, or miraculously providing whatever I needed.
After that day, my life changed. I was able to lay my head on my pillow each night and not worry about the basket of laundry waiting to be folded or the unfinished lesson plans for tomorrow’s schoolwork.
When was the last time you had a good night’s sleep? Do you struggle with trying to do more than God intended? Bringing your homeschooling worries to the Lord means trusting Him for wisdom and provision for all your needs. Will you rest in Him tonight and experience the peaceful sleep He intended? “Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself” (Matthew 6:34a).
Father, forgive me for not getting the rest I need. Help me to trust You with homeschooling my children, so we accomplish what needs to be done each day. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Comments(16 comments)
AVRIL S 08/20/2009 08:00:29
Amen to that. Thanks for the reminder.
GERALD L 08/20/2009 08:21:08
I appreciate your daily encouragements. But, I am a single dad homeschooling my son. Is there anyone there who can relate to a man concerning the daily struggles of homeschooling.
Thanks--Jerry
SHANNON W 08/20/2009 14:48:05
Just last night I was up until 3:00 a.m. My mind racing with the cares I did not give to the Lord. I really needed this word of encouragegment. I was reminded He only ask of me the spance of my hand. I am taking on two sweet children to teach for some friends as well as my own children, I was excited and concerned. After the devotional I am only excited. All His promises are yes and Amen.
DEE H 08/20/2010 15:08:50
This was a much needed breath of fresh air for me...I struggle with this very thing.I have however,gotten better,but can always use the further exhortation.I am so clinging to this word today.Thank you for sharing your heart and the simple way we can come to the Lord with all of our concerns and lay it all down at His feet.I love how He allows us to see what we can pick up and put down...so much more peaceful His way.
~Bless You!
Dee H.
EDWIDGE S 08/20/2010 15:11:29
Wow. I was so encouraged by this. Thank you.
I'm not currently homeschooling. I've become a part of the aohomeschooling community, though, because I am considering it.
My children (two girls) are four and two years. While the two-year-old has always been home with me (I decided to stay home after having her), the four-year-old has been in two different preschool settings since she was 7 mos. I have taken steps to enroll her into a third preschool (left the first because, having committed to being home full time after our second was born, we could no longer afford it; left the second because we were dissatisfied and even a little nervous about the lack of communication and the cold, restricted environment of the school); but even at this late date, with back-to-school-Aug. 30 around the corner, I'm still undecided about whether to proceed with having her in preschool or take the homeschooling leap.
Still, this devotional is so relevant to my life right now. I get up between 7:30-8:30 A and head to bed after midnight! I can see and feel the toll that's been taking, and it's upsetting; so this word was right on time. Thanks for the reminder. I'm going to go read and reflect on the scripture you cited again.
And Jerry, I cannot relate and have no advice to offer, but I did want to let you know that I think it's AMAZING that you've chosen to commit to homeschooling your child without the support of a spouse. Curious ... have you tried just a random google search--"network" and "support" and "homeschooling single fathers" (or some other arrangement of terms like this)--to see what pops up? There may not being anything you can use ... but, then again, there might be.
I hope God does send that someone who can relate to and encourage you.
BILLIE L 08/21/2010 22:09:08
I understand not losing sleep over cares of this world, and agree 100% with that aspect. However, it's good to remember that, "lost sleep" thinking of the goodness of the Lord, or "lost sleep"due to time in prayer is no lost sleep at all. In fact there are nights where I get 3 hours of sleep tops from either my son waking up, or from spending time with the Lord, and I am fully energized and ready to go during the day.
God is good, He'll supply all our needs according to His riches and goodness. I don't think the Lord is saying it's vain for us to wake up early and stay up late, period. If we read the first verse it states, "unless the Lord build the house..." So we can reason that unless the Lord is orchestrating the time spent, it's in vain how we spend it.
Agree with everything that you said pertaining to the cares of the world :) But if God is calling in the wee hours in the morning, or asking you to wait on Him late at night, be obedient! You won't regret it! Time with Him is time well spent.
Blessings
LISA J 08/20/2011 08:04:27
I have lived in KS for 50 years and we just moved to GA. Everything has changed and each day your devotions have hit home with me this month. God is speaking to me through your devotions. Thank You!
XABELINA V 08/20/2011 08:36:49
God is SO GOOD!!!!
I was just confessing to my husband last night that I have not had a good night's sleep in over 5 years! Mind you, it's been exactly for years since I've been saved and God has put my marriage back together after it falling apart. I felt better when I told him this and asked him to pray for me. Then I prayed and asked God to please forgive me for not trusting Him whole heartedly with my life. All though I was saved, and claimed to give everything to the Lord, I still had some things hidden in my secret closet that God wanted to grab a hold of and rid me of it. The problem was that it was hidden in my subconscious. And that is what wouldn't allow me to sleep.
Being that I did not have the answer to this dilemma, I prayed and asked the Lord to reveal to me the reason why I wasn't sleeping. And last night before I closed my eyes to sleep, I looked over and saw my husband there lying next to me and I thought to myself, "What is wrong with me? I should be sleeping like a baby knowing that the Lord has restored and returned to me what was once lost. He has called me to homeschool three beautiful children that were going down the crooked path and now love the Lord! I am truly blessed to have been free'd of alcohol addiction and the feelings of emptiness! I should be sleeping like a baby!"
Then I woke up to find this! Hallelujah! Thank you Jesus! You are faithful!
I knew I was saved, and claimed to trust Jesus, but was lying to myself all along! I trusted Him in some things, put hid the other things in my heart. So far hidden that not even I knew what they were or how to retrieve them. That is a job for the Holy Spirit! I just have to have faith and give it ALL to Him! Phil. 1:6 being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.
I look forward to tonights sleep!
=)
Thank you! And many, many blessings!
ELLEN R 09/02/2011 21:42:54
Hay Jerry , I can SO empathize I'm a single mom doing this HS thing, I just finished my undergraduate degree this yr thought I'd send him back to school to focus on making us some $ for a yr (HA) God had other plans so here goes the balencing game again. too many things to do not enough hours to do it in and too few "Christians" interested in helping us in any fashion. I'm treated as a paria in church for being divorced by a select group and can't get one single man out of a pretty large church to spend any time (take any interest) in my son's walk. NOW that I'm done complaining, hold on my brother, even with these bad attitudes around me I find SO MANY blessings that keep me going that come from no where. and non that I surely deserve. I know it is hard and I so can feel your pain. Please know I pray for all of us HS it's tuff out there in the world, BUT WE CAN rejoice, we have SO much to rejoice for shelter, provision, peace, salvation, a HEAVENLY Father that truly loves us just where we are. PLEASE stay in the word, and just tell God flat out I need..... He will do it for you, I've seen it over and over again. Flat tires fixed with no $, curriculim I need, without paying for it, and so many more blessings I could fill pages and pages of priase for the LORD. Remember you and I are not the only ones, doing this.
Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. ~Matthew 11:29 - HE gives us rest we don't need sleep. GOD BLESS!
LETITIA H 08/20/2012 11:55:34
It\'s a miracle I slept last night because my Mom called to tell me she\'d been diagnosed with bladder cancer. Please, pray for her Salvation and healing.
Thank you!!!
CHRISTINE S 08/20/2012 12:10:38
WOW - God gave me that verse over the weekend. Thank you for reminding me and for your notes
KIM J 08/20/2012 12:11:06
Gerald L, one of our best friends is a homeschool dad with a tween & a teen, and he has homeschooled them from the beginning. I met him at a homeschool PE class he runs. He, too, sometimes feels like the odd one out, doing those two nonconventional things. We can see how this family has been blessed, though, and our son LOVES being with their sons. (And I love his playing with them because I know and trust them all.)
KATHY S 08/21/2012 02:32:18
Letitia H.
I will pray for your Mom.
I would like to share with you that my Brother had a diagnosis of Bladder cancer 8 years ago. He is alive and well today.
Bladder cancer is caused completley by envirornment (my Urologist answered this question for me).
My brother went to a clinic in \"Wheaton, Illinois\". There, he learned to take out all the unhealthy things in his life and replace them with good. He eats a \"Veegan\" diet, drinks only distilled water, and made some changes in his home. He is 49 years old and plays tennis & baseball, in 90+ dgree days. He swims, he looks about 35 years old. There is hope and healing with the Lord and guidance. I will truly pray that your Mom recieves first the gift of Salvation, then that the Lord would heal her by whichever method he so chooses. May God be with you.
JODI N 08/21/2012 08:21:02
To the author of these devotionals: Thank you so much for all of the prayer and effort you have put into these devotionals. They always speak to my heart. They are a very good reminder of what God would have us to focus on each day. I really, really appreciate the encouragement!
Jennifer Maxwell 08/20/2013 14:33:26
I LOVE when The Lord sends us something at just the moment we need it! Thank you for this devotional, because this is the exact thing I needed to hear this morning. I usually get up at 5:30 to get ready for my day, and stay up until 11 at night trying to finish everything on my to do list. Last night after baking two dozen cupcakes, scrubbing the kitchen and due de-cluttering the rest of the house, I collapsed into bed exhausted and nursing a pounding headache. This morning when my alarm went off, I felt like I had barely fallen asleep and that there was no way I could force myself out of bed. So for the first time in forever I turned my alarm off and went back to sleep. Just as I was sitting here, trying to get done all the things I've usually completed by now, and beating myself up over the loss if those precious early morning hours, I opened my email to find this devotion that was like a little nudge from God saying, "it's okay."
HANNAH VAUGHAN 08/20/2013 20:20:19
Hi Jerry and Ellen,
I am a single parent homeschooling as well. It would be great to touch base and start a support system going! Let me know what you think. We can share ideas, tips, etc.