Hope for the Sleepless

This blog post was written for my father, Ron Dean, who is suffering with Cancer for the third time.  After suffering with Sciatic nerve pain for several weeks the doctors discovered a tumor in his spine that is a contusion on his nerve.  He is in tremendous pain.  He struggles to walk during the day.  He struggles to sleep at night.

I feel helpless!  Yet, not hopeless.

Hope is not a longing or yearning for God to help; it is not waiting for the slim chance that things may get better.  Genuine hope is the confidence that God is in your life and on your side, now and forever, and that nothing can separate you from his love.

True hope is resting in the unending love of your creator, expecting him to act on your behalf.

Joined with faith and love, hope is an essential and fundamental element of our lives.  Faith and hope are so closely linked that they cannot be separated and we find it difficult to discern the difference.  Still, there is a difference between them.  Faith is belief in the promises of God.  Hope is a soldier; it fights for us as we wait for the goodness of God to accomplish His will in and for us.

Hope is the confident expectation, the sure certainty that what God has promised, he will deliver.

“Lead me in thy truth, and teach me:  for thou art the God of my salvation; on thee do I wait all the day.” (Psalm 25:5)

When I think about my father’s pain that deepens at night time not allowing him any comfort to rest I turned to the scriptures trying to recall where we learn when someone struggled with pain that kept him up at night to try to find how they dealt with it.

I found the story of King David in 2 Samuel 15.  I imagine King David had many sleepless nights in the wilderness when he fled the city because we was being chased by his own son, Absalom.   His son had been conspiring against his father, the king.  He wanted to overthrow his father and take the crown and the throne for himself.  Can you imagine how King David felt as he was forced to run, to flee for his life?  He grieved for what had become of his family and his life.

I recognize that my father’s pain is physical pain and David’s pain was emotional pain.  Yet, they are both pain that keep us up at night.

In that wilderness, David had time to sit and contemplate; he had sleepless nights to cry out to Heavenly Father.  It is in that wilderness that the Lord gave David several Psalms, including Psalms 3, to quiet and comfort his spirit so he could get some sleep. 

“Lord, how are they increased that trouble me!  Many are they that rise up against me.  Many there be which say of my soul, there is no help for him in God.” (Psalms 3: 1-2)

David pours out his heart; he tells it like it is.  If he’s mad at God he tells him.  If he’s despair, he expresses that.  The Lord wants us to be authentic and real. 

Yet, this is where David’s hope and faith shine.

“But thou, O Lord, art a shield for me; my glory, and the lifter up of mine head.  I laid me down and slept; I awaked; for the Lord sustained me.”

“I will not be afraid of ten thousands of people, that have set themselves against me round about.  Arise, O Lord; save me!”

“Salvation belongeth unto the Lord:  thy blessing is upon thy people.”

I love this Psalm.  It tells us that it is possible in the depths of life’s darkest experience to still have hope in God. 

When you are in trouble it is good to go to Heavenly Father and ask for his help.  But let me share something that I have learned.  When you ask God for help he always gives it, but it is in His timing, it is on His terms and it may not be the help you are expecting.  Heavenly Father always gives us precisely what we need but not always what we ask for.  Sometimes it takes a while to discern what God is doing.  Help doesn’t always come tonight. 

So here is the question – how do I sleep tonight?  Do I grit my teeth and say, “Lord, I trust you for your help.”  Then do I just say to myself – “Sleep…..sleep!”  I have tried that and that doesn’t work. 

That is not what David did.  Let look at the verses again:

“But thou, O Lord, art a shield for me; my glory, and the lifter up on mine head.  I cried unto the Lord with my voice, and he heard me out of his holy hill.” (Psalm 3: 3-4)

He doesn’t ask God for help at all.  David is in more trouble than he has ever been in his life, but in his sleepless, restless, and anxious night he doesn’t pray and ask God for help.  He turns his focus away from his problems and turns his attention to the Lord.

He focuses on who the Lord is:  “You are a shield around me.”

He focuses on what the Lord does:  “You lift my head.”

He focuses on how the Lord is there for him:  “I cry out and you answer me.”

David begins to meditate on who the Lord is, what the Lord does, and how the Lord has always been there for him.  And what is the result?

“I laid me down and slept”  

And then:

“I awaken; for the Lord sustained me.” (vs. 5)

Wow!  He sleeps like a baby and he wakes up refreshed.  Are his problems solved?  No!  His circumstances haven’t changed.  How does David feel in the morning?

“I will not be afraid of ten thousands of people that have set themselves against me”. (vs. 6)

His fear and anxiety are gone even though his circumstances have not changed.  We tend to think that if only things would change, then we wouldn’t feel so bad.  But think about it, his circumstances haven’t changed at all.  Nothing has changed – but David has changed.  His outlook and emotions have changed.

It’s a new day and how does David face it?

“Arise, O Lord; save me!”