Proverbial wisdom says the darkest hour is just before dawn. That doesn’t make sense, since the darkest hour is probably equidistant between twilight and dawn, which would be the middle of the night. I suppose that statement is simply a colloquialism to encourage people through the darkest hours of their lives, an urging to hang on just a little longer and life will get brighter.
No one longs for dawn more than a new mom who cannot, because of her baby’s needs, get even two consecutive hours of sleep. Once dawn begins to light the bedroom, she can call it morning and officially get up. Coffee tastes good, and if she’s lucky, she can brush her teeth and get a fresh outlook on her life.
Linnea shared this morning how slow the nights go when she’s answering Micah’s need for frequent nursing, and how she longs for the sun to come up, indicating night’s end. Even though the demands on her as a mom increase once Skylar gets up in the morning, double-child daytime duty doesn’t overwhelm like single-child nighttime work.
New moms aren’t the only ones longing for dawn. Those who struggle with fear or loneliness seem to experience greater degrees of both during the night. Physical pain that torments the body and keeps a person from sleep is another reason to watch for the sunrise. Every life-negative looms larger during the night. Small concerns grow into overwhelming worry, keeping us from relaxing enough to drift into sleep.
God gives us specific encouragement for sleepless nights by reminding us he’s working on our behalf during those hours. He doesn’t get weary or bleary during the night or at any other time. Instead he offers ways to take advantage of these times when we feel completely alone and consumed by worry or are just plain exhausted. When our main concern is whether or not we’ll make it till morning, he lightens that darkness with promises that we will.
The psalmist David was plagued with middle-of-the-night sleeplessness, but his approach was to turn insomnia into conversation with God. He wrote, “I stay awake through the night, thinking about your promise [for mercy and rescue]. I rise early, before the sun is up. I cry out for help and put my hope in your words.” (Psalm 119:148 & 147)
During the night when we want to sleep and know we ought to, the only trustworthy comfort is trying to connect with God. Since we’re awake anyway, we might as well use the time for something valuable, like conversing with the Lord or meditating on his character. There’s no limit to what God can put on our minds, even to the point of removing our craving for sleep and substituting delightful discoveries on a spiritual level.
As for being short on sleep, God sometimes gives us double-value from little sleep. He expands our energy and ability to cope as if we actually slept long. Young moms like Linnea are perfect examples of this, sleeping in bits and pieces during the night then handling a busy agenda the following day. God will especially sustain and rejuvenate the one who is helping a brand new little one get a good start in life. But anyone who can’t sleep can count on God’s willingness to come into that night alongside them bringing unique blessing. And the good news is, weeks after nighttime rest has been restored, the middle-of-the-night gains from time spent focusing on God will remain permanently.
“Lying in bed, I think, ‘When will it be morning?’ But the night drags on, and I toss till dawn.” (Job 7:4)
“I reflect at night on who you are, O Lord.” (Psalm 119:55a)
I remember those nights! I used to read the Psalm that says, “The Lord grants sleep to those He loves,” and I would cry and ask, “Lord! Don’t you love me?” He answered in that still small voice, “I don’t want you to count on sleep for your strength. I want you to count on me.” I never forgot that answer.
Hi Margaret,
I hope you are refreshed as much from writing these as we are from reading them!
Equidistant, Margaret? I swear you are a closet mathematician. 🙂
I had one of those lying in bed nights last night, without the help of a newborn. I am ashamed to say that reaching for my Bible was one of my last strategies. I tend to go to the Psalms when I feel like this and so just opened up and started reading Psalm 104 until I “came to something.” Fortunately it was in Psalm 106, since despite sleeplessness, I wasn’t entirely absorbing what I was reading. To summarize Psalm 106, it took some 40ish verses to describe the Israelites basic creepiness, but in their creepiness, the relentless love of God shows through in verses 44-46, and so my something was the little phrase that He made them “objects of compassion.” Wow. I probably would have kicked wilderness sand in their face, but God looked upon their distress (which they brought about themselves), heard their cry, remembered His covenant, showed His lovingkindness and made them objects of compassion, in the presence of their captors. That last line made me think of Psalm 23, that He prepares a table for me in the presence of my enemies. Take that Satan, accusing me before God day and night. I’m a creep, too, but His love is greater. Not a bad meditation in the middle of the night.
Great comment, Barbara. I just read something like that as part of my reading last night. That 2 Corinthians 12 thorn passage where Jesus says, “My grace is sufficient for you.” What it actually means is sufficient for you is the grace of Me. He doesn’t give the grace and strength like a vending machine. He IS the grace and strength. The whole thing is wrapped up in Him- He is the Christian life.
“Lord, where can we go from Your Spirit, where can we flee from Your presence? The comforting answer is no where, not even if we make our bed in Sheol, try to take flight, or bury ourselves at the bottom of the sea. You’re there. In our own flesh, our eyes can see darkness where there is light, but for You, even real darkness is light, and the night is as bright as the day. They are both the same for You. How vast and precious are the sum of Your thoughts toward us. Amen.”
Love,
Terry
I must admit…..this is untapped territory that the world wants to keep untapped! I remember those nights of endless broken slumber and trying to sit and feed or console an infant in the dark, trying hard not to doze off, fearing I’d drop them. But through those nights God gifts mothers with an amazing ability in future years to waken and pray for those same children and then to be able to doze back. God equipped us to rise in darkness to find Him waiting for us. He actually will give you a love for those long nights if you ask Him to because in the quiet…dark…still night….you can hear His Spirit. And if you really believe the night is long then you need not fear that you will not also have plenty of time to sleep.
As for young mothers?????? You are in training…….hang in there! It’s good.