Today we consciously think about
the car’s gas gauge. We keep one eye on that needle as it slips toward the red
line, dreading the next trip to the gas station. The cost of fuel for our cars
eats up an ever increasing portion of our weekly budgets. Consequently, most of
us endeavour to car pool whenever possible. It’s easy to be aware of the needs
of the environment when we are motivated by the amount of money in our wallets
or bank accounts.
Our bodies also need the fuel of
rest in order to function efficiently. Most youngsters, after a day of school
and play, sink into ten or twelve hours of untroubled sleep. Teens tend to enjoy
their twelve hours between one a.m. and one p.m. whenever possible. They know
their bodies need rest, too.
By the time we reach forty, sleep
like gasoline for our cars, feels like an expensive essential luxury. Demands
on our time have multiplied. Between our regular day job, and extra-curricular
work as family taxi driver and problem solver, housekeeper, community volunteer
and whatever else we do, we have to ration out our time for sleep. We’ve
developed a pattern of offering our bodies just enough fuel to keep going. Psychologists
tell us that sleep deprivation is an effective form of torture. When I look at
today’s parents, and some of today’s seniors and young people as well, I see
faces grey with fatigue.
What wisdom does the Bible offer
for this dilemma? In Genesis, God does
the work of creation from morning till evening. Then God stops to rest and proclaim
that day’s work good. God repeats this for six days. On the seventh, God rests
all day. This simple pattern requires intentionality. Like a long distance
runner, we must pace ourselves on life’s journey. Sleep is an essential fuel.
We cannot live well without it.
It’s useless for you to work so hard from early morning
until late at night anxiously working for food to eat, for God gives rest to
his loved ones. Psalm 127.2
