11. Leslie Kim

11.1

Leslie Kim

“Resting in the Lord”…literally.

1 Thessalonians 5:17 “Pray without ceasing”

I know that the title of my little blurb says “Resting in the Lord” and that doesn’t seem to coincide with the quoted verse above, but read a little further, and hopefully you’ll get what I mean.

Ever since I started university, I have had a difficult time falling (and staying) asleep. Typically, I end up going to bed very late, and even though I might be completely exhausted, it takes an inordinate amount of time after I’ve settled into bed for me to actually doze off (if I even get to that point at all!). I’ve tried everything to combat my insomnia: warm milk, reading, watching tv, hot baths and showers, jumping jacks, yoga, counting sheep, counting numbers (I once got to a million – I was inspired by my nephew, Josh), cutting out caffeine, a glass of wine…just to name a few. (Note: You may have noticed that I did not mention sleeping pills as one of my possible solutions – I would rather not resort to chemically-induced sleep; I am hesitant to believe it is a healthy, long-term solution). As you can imagine, I have gotten quite frustrated with the long, restless nights, and subsequent googley-eyed, “I-have-a-rock-in-my-head” days from the incessant lack of sleep. So, I gave up trying to ‘do’ anything about it.

So, I just began to lie on my back, and stare at the ceiling above me. As I lay there, my mind naturally turned towards all the ‘issues’ I had in my life, whether it was difficulties or uncertainties regarding work, family, finances, or struggles other people in my life were going through. Most of the things that were coming up in my mind were things I really had no control over.

Here is the answer. It occurred to me while I was lying in bed and staring at the ceiling, that I could

continue my daily conversation with Him, and release all my concerns and issues up to Him. I don’t know why I didn’t do it before – I think I was pre-occupied with the foreknowledge that a long and restless night was ahead. But, lo and behold, guess what began happening? I started falling asleep in the middle of my prayer! It was a miracle! But even then, there were times when I would finish praying, and still not be able to fall asleep. So, then what? I don’t know how it began, but I started to just to sing whatever praise song that came to mind first, and in middle of my song, I would fall asleep. Sometimes it would take several songs, but eventually, I would drift off. The curious thing was that when I woke up in the morning, I would be all groggy and sleepy-eyed, brushing my teeth or stepping into the shower, and I would still have a song of praise for the Lord in my heart, and on my lips. It’s not as though I had purposefully began considering God immediately upon awakening. Instead, my first thought was usually that it seemed too dark for 7 o’clock in the morning and that I really wanted to crawl back into bed. But even in the midst of these thoughts, the song pervaded throughout my mind, and my day would begin. To be honest, it was a bit of a funny feeling since it was almost as though I didn’t have complete control over my mind - my thoughts would simply keep turning back to the praise song. So, I suppose because I was conversing with God or lifting praises to Him in song the moment I fell asleep, and still singing a song the moment I woke up, I was effectively “praying without ceasing” in my sleep.

In conclusion, I think one of the reasons the Lord would like us to “pray without ceasing” is because in doing so, we get true rest in all of life’s activities, not just for SLEEP. If you ever have a hard time sleeping, I suggest starting off by talking to God – I don’t think it has to be very formal, but as though you’re speaking what’s on your mind to one of your friends. And if that doesn’t work, try singing a praise song. The best part is that you wake up in the morning with the joy of the Lord still in your heart.