LYING AWAKE
Today's reading: Isaiah 18-22

"...I grow faint when I hear what God is planning; I am blinded in dismay. My mind reels; my heart races. The sleep I once enjoyed at night is now a distant memory. I lie awake..." Isaiah 21:3-4 NLT

This passage is spoken by the prophet Isaiah. He is referring to how he was losing sleep over the prophecy God had given him about Babylon. The thoughts couldn't leave his mind. It kept him awake. He wasn't able to shake what he knew would come to pass, according to God's own words.

It made me think.

If you and I were to think about it, really think about it, really and truly think about it--shouldn't the promises God has given us keep us awake, too?

If we were to anticipate as much as we fret?

If we were to expect His answers to come as much as we need them to arrive?

If we were to hope in His words as much as we fear what we see?

Shouldn't we be kept awake at night with just our minute knowledge of His love for us?

Would we lie in bed with our eyes wide open thinking about the prodigals returning home, the pain leaving and the spirit of the Living God flowing through us as we go through our day?

Would our eyes be searching the ceiling tile as we think back over our day and the opportunities we might have missed to see Him at work?

Would sleep elude us as we pondered just how loved we are?

Sure, we can lose sleep over what we fear and dread, what may or may not occur--but as His dear children, shouldn't our excitement for our Father keep our slumber disrupted, too?