The Quiet of Sleep Helps Put Things Where They’re Supposed to be: Into The Father’s Care

The other day my son asked my thoughts about using melatonin as a sleep aid.

I thought it funny that he asked because just the week prior, I kept awakening & strategizing how to fix things-relationally in our family & task-wise in my job. It had been going on for a while so I decided to take some melatonin to stop the midnight strategizing.

The problem with melatonin usage, however, is that it can cause crazy dreams (of which I’m super susceptible) & it’s not meant for long-term use.

Today when I read Psalm 3, written by David about his time hiding from his son Absalom, I was surprised by something.

His son forcefully overtakes the throne & pursues his father for the sole purpose of killing him.

David has a mighty army with a litany of valiant victories, but he flees with hopes that his rebellious son would repent. As David lays in hiding with no melatonin in reach, he does something extraordinary: He sleeps!

His entire kingdom is being overthrown by his own son & yet he sleeps!

He writes, 

• You, O LORD, are a shield around me

• You are the one who holds my head high

• I cried out to the LORD, & he answered me

• I lay down & slept, yet I woke up in safety, for the LORD was watching over me

This mighty man of God had faced many perilous moments, but running for his life from his own son was a first. 

And yet? He turns to The One Who is his Shield, the Lord who holds his head while he sleeps.

Isn’t that a beautiful visual? When my guys were little, there was nothing more tender than when they’d fall asleep on my shoulder.

That’s what the Father desires for us! That we would turn to Him, lay our boulders of care at His feet, then crawl up into His lap, confident of His care, knowing that He has, is & will continue to watch over us while we sleep.

Father, thank You melatonin that helps sleep & thank You more for the miraculous kinda melatonin that’s produced from Your Presence. May we turn to The One Who watches over us while we sleep, dropping our burdens at Your feet & taking our thoughts captive while we nestle into Your shoulder. Let us awaken like David after a long nights sleep, & proclaim, “I am not afraid, for victory comes from You, O Lord.”

#OneYearBible

January 3rd One Year Bible Readings

💡GENESIS 5:1-7:24

💡MATTHEW 3:7-4:11

💡PSALM 3:1-8

💡PROVERBS 1:10-19

Did You Know? The Idea of Clothing Entered with Sin.

I read the funniest question this morning in the book of Genesis. I’ve read it countless times before but for some reason this morning, it made me chuckle a bit nervously.

When Adam & Eve heard God walking through the Garden of Eden, they hid from God among the trees.

They had eaten fruit from the forbidden tree & when they did, they felt immediate shame, so they sewed messily fig leaves together to cover their nakedness.

God, Who knows all, calls to the man & asks, “Where are you?”

He’s God so He already knows where Adam is, but still He asks.

Adam says he is hiding because he’s afraid for God to see his nakedness.

The next question is the one that made me laugh with nervous laughter:

“Who told you that you were naked?”😬

Again, God knew the answer. The question was for Adam & Eve to ponder. Most know the story that Adam pushes responsibility on Eve & Eve pushes it onto the serpent.

After God proclaims the consequences He does something that’s never been done before; He slaughters animals to make skins of clothing for Adam & his wife.

There is SO much here!

1) Anytime we feel shame for our sin & try to cover it up with flip-floppy fig leaves of fake security, we will continue to try to hide from God.

2) The enemy is ALWAYS the source of shame-tempting us to make choices that leave us feeling naked & afraid before our good God.

3) The idea of clothing entered with sin. Every time we get dressed, it is a daily reminder of the sin that needs covering, sin we cannot cover, & sin that can only be blotted out by shed blood.

4) The “clothes” that God provides covers our nakedness & keeps us warm, but they come at a high price - the cost of His Son’s life. Jesus’s blood was shed so that our nakedness might be covered fully with the blood of the sacrificial Lamb!

Father, as we get dressed for the day, let it be a reminder of our need for Your covering. The enemy tells us time & again that we’re naked, but Your intent WAS for us to be WITH You in the garden naked & unafraid. Let us drop the fig leaves of fake security & may our clothing become an intimate invitation to return to Your garden naked & unafraid.🙂

#OneYearBible

January 2nd One Year Bible Readings

💡GENESIS 3:1-4:26💡MATTHEW 2:13-3:6

💡PSALM 2:1-2:12💡PROVERBS 1:7-1:9

Keeping Cadence with our Creator

Genesis 1:1 starts with these 3 words:

“In the beginning…”

So appropriate for January 1st! There is something exciting about new beginnings, right?

My husband asked me how I’d rate 2021 & I quickly replied, “If I were to answer in my flesh I’d say it’s probably 1 of the top 5 suckiest years of my life.”😬

He visibly exhaled, sat back on the couch & said “Wow! Tell me about that…”

If I’m gonna be honest, I felt a little mad that he asked me to retell the hard moments of 2021…I mean he already knew them all because he walked through them with me!

When I finished the rehash of hard things he gently said, “I don’t have a memory like you, Kimberly…after hearing you recap things, I understand why it was so hard. The beautiful thing, however, is that we serve a God of new beginnings. I am confident that this next year will ‘return what the locusts have eaten.’”

If you look at the pattern of creation, God separates, forms, then fills.

Days 1-3, He separates:

1 Light from dark

2 Water from sky

3 Earth from sea

Days 4-6, He forms & fills:

4 Forms sun to fill the light & moon & stars to fill the dark

5 Forms creatures to fill the water & birds to fill the sky

6 Forms people & land animals to fill the earth

Then, on the 6th day when it’s all separated, formed & filled, He gives vegetation for food & demonstrates rest on the 7th day.

As we step into this new year with great expectation, & perhaps like me with a desire for a fresh start, how might our year end up if we followed the Creators cadence of work & rest?  He worked for six days, but also gave us what we needed on that 6th day & then ceased from all His labors on the 7th.

This past year would’ve been awful without keeping the cadence of my King! His cadence is one of purpose, order AND includes rest!

Father, thank You that You are a God of new beginnings! Help us separate from things that are distractions from the future You intend. Form in us a heart to follow Your lead & fill us with the character of Christ. When we are filled with Emmanuel, we can freely give as you’ve given & Rest In Your Peace, without fear of the future.

#OneYearBible

January 1st One Year Bible Readings

💡GENESIS 1:1-2:25

💡MATTHEW 1:1-2:12

💡PSALM 1:1-1:6

💡PROVERBS 1:1-1:6