Good Sleep Comes From God's Work

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​“As a door turns on its hinges,
​so does a sluggard on his bed.”

Proverbs 16:14

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God’s Gift of Rest 

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God’s People Need Rigorous Work

We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again: Adam was put in a garden.  That says something about our calling in life and what we were designed to do.

Adam was a farmer.  God intended him to be doing good old fashioned labor for a good part of the day.  The work of “cultivating and keeping” the garden was supposed to be arduous, even before the fall introduced toil into our work.

As the sons of Adam, we should take note.  In the morning we are to punch in so that we can punch out at night.

It may seem obvious that sleep and rigorous work go together.  However, many people do not make the connection.  They find themselves having a hard time drifting off at night or restless in the bedtime hours.  

That is because they do not take seriously the call to take real dominion, be active, and put genuine, physical efforts into glorifying God.  

When one is “working heartily, as unto the Lord,” there is a less chance that he will have to fight that daily grogginess through much of the day.  Because he is “not lagging in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord” (Rom. 12:11) he is regularly blessed with deep and rest-filled sleep.

On the contrary, the sluggard finds that sleep is elusive.  That might sound odd at first.  We typically think of the sluggard as one who sleeps too much.  While that can be the case, its only one side of the whole picture.

In actuality, the slothful person is robbed of some good shut eye because he has, in a sense, shut his eyes to the work that he was supposed to do.  The Lord gives a perfect picture of the slothful person in Proverbs 26:14:

“As a door turns on its hinges, so does a sluggard on his bed.”  

It’s a depiction of one who tosses and turns all night long.  He is restless.  He can’t get into that deep sleep that he needs.  When he does doze off, he doesn’t sleep well.  He’s like a door hinge, swinging back and forth on the sheets all night long.

The sluggard has come under the displeasure of God.  He has not lived for God’s glory during the day.  As a result, he does not sleep by God’s grace through the night.

Granted, we live in an age where a lot of people do not have jobs that are overly strenuous.  We should recognize how we may need to adapt given our our modern day livelihoods.

People who’s main habitat is an office, driving the roads, or sitting behind a computer won’t be burning a lot of calories in a day.  That, of course, will directly affect how well that person sleeps at night.

In this case, the Lord will expect you to set up a regular exercise routine each day.  As was mentioned, our bodies were meant to get after it each day.  The farmer life was a regular, taxing routine of lifting, pulling, pushing, and racking up steps on the pedometer.

Those who have more sedentary types of work, like accountants, students, and those in retirement, will need to find ways to replicate the farmer life.  That may mean taking a walk, going for a jog, doing some calisthenics, or hitting the gym to push around some weights.  

People who do a lot of sitting typically find that getting the heartrate up for a period of at least 20 minutes a day will radically increase how well they sleep at night.  The science world will tell you this is natural.  The pastor will tell you that this is just God’s normal way of issuing his blessing.  

Of course, some may find that they need to increase the amount (or strenuousness) of exercise they get in a day.  If walking doesn’t do the job, maybe some strength training will put new muscles into a state of fatigue.

Others, who might be whittling time away, might find that they need to be more disciplined in their daily work ethic.  Kids may not sleep well because they are playing too many video games.  The stay at home mom may need to be disciplined with her daily chores as opposed to spending too much time visiting or watching daytime TV.

Of course, others might have plenty of work and exercise, but still do not get the kind of sleep that they would characterize as “blessed.”  

If that’s the case, stay tuned.  There is plenty more to say on the topic.  In the next issue, we’ll dive into another aspect of living by faith so that we can rest by night.

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