"Your Body, Your Spirit, & a Good Night’s Sleep"

by: John Stonestreet &  G. Shane Morris

Because our bodies matter to God—and not just in a moral sense—our rest matters to God, too. So much so, He built it into the rhythms of the universe.

Do you proclaim with the psalmist: “Awake, my soul! Awake, harp and lyre! I will awaken the dawn. I will praise you, Lord, among the nations” (Psalm 57:8)?

Do you climb out of bed each morning and sing with joy about God’s unfailing love (Psalm 59:16)?

If not, (and for the record, I rarely do), maybe it’s because we are among the one in three Americans who don’t get enough sleep. Seriously.

Last year, the Centers for Disease Control declared a new public health crisis: sleep deprivation. Millions are failing night after night to get the recommended seven to nine hours of rest, putting them at increased risk for health problems from anxiety and depression to diabetes and heart disease.

By some estimates, widespread lack of sleep is costing American employers over $100 billion annually “in lost production, medical expenses, and sick leave.” More in-depth research finds that twenty straight hours without sleep is the equivalent of being legally drunk. And sleep specialists are sounding the alarm that “drowsy driving” is just as deadly as drunk driving—and more common.

So what’s behind this epidemic of sleep deprivation? Why are Americans these days so incapable of turning off the lights and going to bed? The answer is in our pockets.

A growing body of research demonstrates that the frequency of light produced by smart phones, laptops and tablets triggers the release of chemicals in our brains that tell us, “It’s time to wake up! Its morning!”

The dreary glow of screens also drains our concentration and creativity. A study in the journal Social Psychology reported that even having a smart phone nearby degraded the quality of subjects’ work and studies, because it reminded them of their online social circles.

So what do we do to counteract this perfect storm of sleep deprivation and tech addiction?

Writing at Motherboard, Kaleigh Rogers describes her radical solution: She banned screens from her home for a full month. No TV, computers, or smart phones. Cold turkey.

Unlike healthy eating and exercise—good habits that take weeks or months to make a difference—Rogers says her tech-free experiment yielded immediate and astonishing results.

The first few days were like a dream, she writes. “We’d come home, put on some music, cook dinner together, and then—unimaginably—we’d sit at the table and eat. After dinner, Stuart would play guitar while I read. Chores were done promptly and without hesitation. It was blissful.”

Okay, that’s all great. But BreakPoint isn’t a self-help program. So what’s all this got to do with a Christian worldview?

Well, let’s go back to the beginning. God created day and He created night. A time to work, and a time to rest. The Sabbath, remember, begins in the evening, and we enter into an earthly rest in anticipation of resting eternally in God’s presence.

Remember too that we’re not pure spirits. We’re embodied spirits. The state of our body affects the state of our spirit. It’s why we avoid drunkenness and bodily immorality. It’s why we try to stay fit.

It’s no wonder then, as Kate Shellnutt writes at Christianity Today, that those who get quality sleep report feeling closer to God and having better faith lives overall.

And also, as Charles Spurgeon said, “God gives us sleep to remind us we are not Him.” We have limits. He doesn’t. We lie down at night trusting in God’s care, open to Him speaking to us, trusting him to revive these earthen vessels of ours in the morning—ready once again to join with God in His work to restore all thing in Jesus.

Now I’m not saying give up your cell phone or Facebook (especially if you read BreakPoint on them). But I am saying don’t let them deprive you of God’s gift of sleep, and in turn all the personal interaction, productivity, creativity, and especially spiritual vitality that make us fully human as God intended.

-from breakpoint.org/2018/01/body-spirit-good-nights-sleep-2/ 

I recommend putting all your e-screens (phone, tablet, laptop) away one hour before bedtime, which works well for me.  If you or your child has ADHD, try going without for a day or two, or putting away your e-screens 3-4 hours before bedtime.

God seeks to be reunited with his children.

A couple years ago, I read a book (The Radio Signal) by a German-American - Friedhelm Radandt.  Friedhelm Radandt was a child in Germany during Hitler's rise to power in the 1930s.  His father refused to enroll him and his older brother in the Nazi school for teenage boys, and because of that, his father lost his job, & their family had to move.  Friedhelm also had 2 older sisters.

In the early part of WW 2, Friedhelm's older brother enlisted in the Nazi program for teenage officers, against his parents' wishes.  Shortly after that, he disappeared on the motorcycle the Nazis provided for teenage officers.  Friedhelm was about 7-8 years old when he too became separated from his family because an approaching army, but was reunited a day or two later.  His sister was a children's nanny for another family when they had to flee a quickly approaching army.  His siblings were separated from his parents because of the war, as many families were separated in Europe during WW 2.

At the end of the war, Friedhelm and his parents were living just West of Germany.  Like many fathers who had been separated from his children, his father wanted to see his young adult children back in his home again.  So he began writing letters to any government official in any place that any of his children might be.  He wrote letter after letter after letter after letter.  When a returning letter informed him of where one of his children were, he traveled to that place to rescue his child and bring him home again.  After months and months of this, Friedhelm's 2 sisters were reunited with his family.

Then they learned that Friedhelm's brother was being held in prison along with other German soldiers just East of Germany, in an area occupied by the Soviet army.  His father traveled across the area held by Allied forces, to just across a river from the prison.  The river along the prison was the line between the Allied forces and the area held by the Soviet army.  Friedhelm's father sent a secret message to his son who snuck out of the prison during the night & managed to escape across the river without being seen, to be reunited with his father, & together they traveled back to join the rest of their family.

The point is that Friedhelm's father went through many steps, some of which were costly & risky, to be reunited with all his children after the war.  In a similar way, God went through many steps to be reunited with his children.  Sending his Son to be born in humble circumstances was the costliest & riskiest thing that God did, to rescue his children & be reunited with them.

We're separated from God by our sin which is like cancer; it's awful, painful & destructive.  Prior to Christ, in the latter part of the Old Testament, it became clear that the old Jewish system of sacrifices, was not enough to restore God's people to Him.  That system had become abused by selfish people who took advantage of the poor & gave special privileges to the wealthy.

In the journey of life, sometimes one reaches the point where one wishes to be reunited with lost family members.  Would you like to be reunited with your spiritual family?  Would you like to develop a relationship with your heavenly Father?

If you've come to the point in your life where you can see your need for help to overcome your problems & sins, you can be reunited with your heavenly Parent through the help of Jesus.  Admit your sins and weaknesses, to be reunited with God, and trust in his Spirit to help you.  If you want to learn more, read the Gospel of John in the New Testament in the Bible.