A Good Night's Sleep

In a nationwide survey of 1005 adults, Barna Research found that seven of ten adults, 71 percent, placed a good night's sleep at the top of a list of things they look forward to. Born again Christians were even more interested than non-believers in getting a good night of rest.  We're tired and the study's director, George Barna, says it's our own fault.  We're filling our schedules and failing to institute proper boundaries in our lives.  We're busy because, "we have not learned to say 'no' to appealing opportunities."

Everybody's got excuses for their sleep deprived states.  Currently, mine is a bathroom flood which means 5 huge fans blowing....for days. Lots of parents say they'll sleep when the kids are older. But the Barna survey found that people who have young children in the house were no more likely to want more sleep than those with no little kids around.

 Other research confirms Americans' desire for more sleep but, we're getting less and less of it.           The National Sleep Foundation in Washington D.C. reported that, in 2007 only 26 percent of Americans got eight hours a night, down from 38 percent in 2001.Sleep experts say we need seven to nine. 

 Of course there are the tools to ward off the symptoms of sleep-deprivation:  work, exercise, caffeine.  But William Dement, chief of Stanford University's sleep division, says if we habitually get less sleep than we need, we pay a price in terms of health, and memory function.

 Many of us promise ourselves we'll catch up on the weekend. But, in practice, we fall short. We actually accumulate a "sleep debt."   If we require seven hours and get only five for a couple of nights, we really need to make up four full hours: a tall order.

 Some sleeplessness stems from worry. There are those seemingly endless hours, when the mind magnifies problems.  We can only beseech the Lord with the Psalmist:  "At night my soul longs for you,  Indeed my spirit within me seeks you diligently." Though this pain, we must commit ourselves to God's sovereign care.

One more question we tired believers should ask ourselves.  What are we doing about the fourth commandment?  "Remember the Sabbath Day by keeping it holy." In his book Pathway to Freedom, prominent pastor Alistair Begg laments the emphasis on amusement, consumption, and work over rest and worship on Sundays.  He asks, "Are we to believe that for centuries our forefathers simply 'got it wrong? ...Were they unable to grasp what Jesus meant when he declared that then 'the Sabbath was made for man'?"   

 George Barna sums up the problem...and a solution.  He observes, "We voluntarily exhaust ourselves and then wonder why life doesn't seem satisfying.  This is one reason why God instituted a day of rest, rather than a day of catching up or gorging on pleasurable activities."   Perhaps that Sabbath observance might just include a nap.