Fighting Through sleepless nights

Josh Huisman
5 days ago
3 min read

Psalm 77:2-4(ESV)

²In the day of my trouble I seek the Lord; in the night my hand is stretched out without wearying; my soul refuses to be comforted. ³When I remember God, I moan; when I meditate, my spirit faints. Selah ⁴You hold my eyelids open; I am so troubled that I cannot speak.

Sleepless nights.

We have all had them. Tossing and turning in bed with your mind going about a mile a minute. In a short amount of time your thoughts are overtaken by the overwhelming events of the day, regrets over something that has happened, or perhaps the fear of what may lie ahead.

Every worst case scenario begins to play out as your mind races through why you did something, or why you didn't do something? Why did you say that? Or, why didn't you say that? What will happen? What won't happen? How can you get it all done? When will you get it all done?

Before you know it you're staring at the ceiling or pacing around your kitchen at 3:00 AM.

"My soul refuses to be comforted. When I remember God, I moan; when I meditate, my spirit faints." Perhaps you can relate to the Psalm 77 writer who wonders where God is in all of this. This Psalm of Asaph is a tear-jerker. The words are written to the Chief Musician who is charged with putting the sad lyrics to music. I'm pretty sure the end result was something Sarah McLachlin would have released. You know her song, Angel? The one always used for the sad "abandoned dogs" commercials. Hold on, let me grab a box of Klennex.

Psychologists and counselors encourage us to replace negativity with positivity when it comes to our thinking patterns. In actuality, that's biblical.

2 Corinthians 10:5 (ESV)

⁵We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ.

I know what you're thinking because I've had the same thoughts. I know I'm SUPPOSED to take every thought captive, but HOW do I do that at 3:00 AM when I am desperate for sleep, and the desperation of life has not only taken my thoughts captive but are running down the street at a sprinters pace?!

The answer is found in the progression of Psalm 77. Please read through all 20 verses, it will do your heart some good. Verses 1 - 6: Recognition of the sleepless night.

Verses 7 - 9: Questions for God on why this is happening. Verses 10-20: Replacing negativity with positivity by focusing on God's goodness!

The mind is built on fault lines. It is constantly shifting and causing earthquakes in your thoughts. You don't know when the earthquakes will happen, but you can prepare in advance to protect yourself or limit the damage that leads to a sleepless night.

What should you do? Intentionally shift your mind to something new by remembering the old. Write down in advance (when you're awake and feeling good), all the ways God has been faithful to you in the past. Psalm 77:11 "I will remember the works of the Lord; surely I will remember Your works of old."

I recently heard a friend ask, "What would you do if God took away all the things you didn't thank Him for the day before?" Pastor and author Mark Batterson writes in Win the Day, "You get around 23,000 breaths a day. Have you thanked God for any of them?"

This may sound overly simplistic, but when your thoughts are keeping you up at night, you need to have a "battle plan" that shifts you away from your current worry. Open your previously written record of God's faithfulness to you and meditate on His goodness.

He was faithful then, He will be faithful now.

It works wonders for peace of mind and a calmness of heart when you remember what the Lord has done in your life. It puts the current troubles you face into perspective. The day will come when your current trouble will become a past trouble, and then there will be new troubles to face.

That's life.

And that's okay, God will carry you through...AGAIN!

Get some sleep, my friend, God has you in His hands.