Sleepless Solutions.

Monday, December 05, 2011
Sleepless Solutions. We have solutions for everything, don’t we? If we have a headache, we take aspirin or Tylenol. If we have an upset stomach, we take a medication for that. If we can’t sleep, we have sleep aids. My struggle, as of late, has been with the last one mentioned…
I’ve not been sleeping much lately. The raccoon circles under my eyes that some have asked about recently are a sure give away, too. I lay awake for what seems like forever, and when I do finally fall asleep it doesn’t seem to last long. I wake up, on average, 3 or 4 times a night. So, almost every 2 hours I’m waking up for some reason. The problem is that the longer this goes on the more likely it is that I’ll have a new sleep pattern for some time to come. That’s not an exciting thought to me, at all.
So I’ve asked around to some folks for ideas on sleeping better. I even had a long conversation with a cousin who is a pharmacist the other day. I’ve been given several ideas, but she told me about a natural option called melatonin. Turns out our bodies produce it naturally to help us sleep, and this is a vitamin you can take that sort of stimulates your body’s natural process. She said it does wonders for her.
So last night at Wal-Mart I picked up some. I got home, and you would not believe my eagerness to give this a try. I walked straight in, got ready for bed, and took the tablet. The only thing going through my mind was the exciting thought that finally, for the first time in months, I would enjoy a FULL night’s sleep again!
About an hour later I finally dozed off…and about 3 hours after that I woke back up. 2 hours after that I woke up again. And about 2 hours after that I woke up again. The next time I would wake up would be about 10 minutes before my alarm would go off, signaling the end of my night’s attempt at sleep. I’ll try them again tonight, but I think it’s safe to say vitamins aren’t my solution.
But do you know what occurred to me this morning? I haven’t prayed about this.
Now folks, I’m a minister. My life revolves around helping folks grow in their relationship with God, and when folks come to me to talk about issues in their lives we always pray about it. It seems like almost daily I tell people that there isn’t anything to trivial to talk to God about – it all matters to Him! Yet here I am, searching in every direction for an answer to my sleeplessness, all the while never talking to God about it!
Don’t we all do that?
I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with medication, at all. I believe God uses doctors and things like that, sometimes, to bring relief and even healing to us. However, it suddenly occurs to me that our first stop on the journey to healing or help should be the Great Physician, the Creator of all that is!
So today, when a dilemma comes before you, try taking it to God before taking it anywhere else. We can all cultivate a deeper life of prayer, don’t ya think?



That’s just a thought, and I welcome yours.
Until next time,
blake

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