Psalm 6:6 I am weary with my groaning, all night I make my bed swim. I drench my couch in tears.
Oh, the sorrow that comes with sleepless nights. I recently read that the things that trouble us most often are thoughts that are tucked deeped down into our subconscience. In an effort to protect itself our bodies hide emotional trauma in our subconscience mind. When we try to go to bed our minds enter different stages of sleep and as we fall closer to what is called REM sleep our subsconscience thoughts are brought to the surface and we wake up.
Do you have a habit of waking up around 2:00 - 3:00 AM? Yep, that's part of what's happening.
Many of us know the feeling described in Psalm 6:6. We stir in the bed, praying for sleep, but our minds have become flooded with too many anxious thoughts. We replay events of the day, or think about negative possibilities in the future. In the end, we wish what was happening in our minds would stop, but it all seems too real.
For David in Psalm 6, his suffering was a sickness. He was so tired of feeling weary and run down by a sickness that had brought him to a place of exhaustion. He asked God, "Did I do something wrong?" His soul was so troubled that it brought him to tears.
Jesus quoted this Psalm in John 12:27, but his suffering and pain didn't bring him down because he understood his mission held a greater purpose. There is a lesson for us to learn from Jesus when it comes to sleepless nights. Instead of allowing our subconscience thoughts to take over and lead us down negativity lane, perhaps we can calm our minds by turning our thoughts to our purpose and what He is calling us to do. Even in the suffering we can pray to God to teach us through the trials so we can be better prepared to serve. Pro Tip: When stress and anxiety take over your mind and leave you tossing and turning in your bed, have Scripture(s) highlighted in your Bible that become your "go-to" verses. Do not allow negative thoughts to run unchecked. Take authority over those thoughts in Jesus name and taken them captive. (2 Corithians 10:1-6)
When you are weary because of a sleepless night, don't allow negativity to win the day. Choose instead to focus on the greater purpose God is calling you to and rejoice that in the weariness He is revealing the pathway to your purpose.
Josh Huisman is the senior pastor of New Hope Community Church in Brentwood, TN.
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