Title: Sleeping grace, awakening grace
Contents
Psalm 127:2 Sleeping grace, waking grace
I want to ask you. Is it God's grace to make you sleep? Is it God's grace to wake you up? The correct answer is, in English, you could say “It depends!” That is, it may depend on the situation. For example, it would be God's grace to put the insomnia patient to sleep, and a soldier standing on the battlefield as a sentinel. It may be God's grace to wake you up, that is, sometimes it can be God's grace to make you sleep, and sometimes it can be God's grace to wake you up.
For the average person, a newborn baby spends a lot of time sleeping. And even in childhood, I sleep quite a bit. Then, as you become an adult, your sleep gradually decreases, and your sleeping time and patterns change depending on your environment and other factors. And when the body is tired, old, sick, and unable to bear it, it falls into a very deep sleep called unconsciousness, and further into an eternal sleep called death.
And you and I will remember when I was a student, especially in high school, I struggled to get enough sleep when I was preparing for an exam. And when I first met God, I was so sorry that I had to spend the precious years sleeping, so I tried to reduce my sleep anyway. However, while dealing with the phrase “the Lord gives sleep to those he loves” in today’s text, we come to realize, “Aha, sleep can be a precious grace from God!”
In Jeremiah 31:25-26, there is this verse. “Because I have satisfied the weary spirit and refreshed the sad spirit.” I awoke and found my sleep sweet.” In other words, Jeremiah's heart was always sad and unhappy when he thought of the state of Judah being destroyed by Babylon and of his people living in captivity in a faraway foreign land. However, God revealed to Jeremiah that in the future the Jewish people would return from captivity and the ruined Jerusalem would be rebuilt. Hearing the prophecy, Jeremiah was able to sleep peacefully.
And the joint translation says: “The Lord is satisfied with the one he loves, even when he sleeps.” These words may sound unpleasant to those who are on a diet. However, for those who are tired of eating because there is absolutely no food, it can be a great blessing to say that God fills them even when they sleep.
And the New Standard Version of the Bible says: “Truly the Lord blesses the one he loves, even while he sleeps.” Personally, I really like this translation. God blesses us even when we wake up, but we can't help but be thankful that God blesses us even while we sleep. Folks, you cannot know what happened while a person is asleep. But definitely know. God diligently brings blessings to you even while you are sleeping. Therefore, when you wake up, you will find blessings piled up in front of you.
It's like something out of a fairy tale book. While Cinderella was sleeping, she was exhausted and worried because she had a lot of chores, the fairies appeared and made everything perfect. When I wake up, the house is sparkling. And it was transformed into a beautiful palace in a thatched house that seemed to collapse while sleeping. Her beggar-like appearance had become a princess. Just like fairy tales appear and work all night in a fairy tale book, God works nonstop while we sleep, so when we wake up, the problem is solved. The good news awaits. Hallelujah!
In Genesis 2, God gives Adam the best gift. What is it? It was none other than his wife, Eve. But what did Adam do to get Eve? Did you work hard? Have you been working on the computer all night? Did you have a hard time? no. All he did was sleep and wake up. When he woke up from his sleep, God's greatest gift and blessing appeared in front of him.
This is what Genesis 2:21 says about it. “The Lord God put Adam into a deep sleep, and as he fell asleep, he took one of his ribs and filled it with flesh.” Just as Santa Claus leaves presents at night while a child is sleeping on Christmas Day, Adam received the best gift in his sleep. will be I pray that you and I may receive God's blessings, gifts, and grace abundantly even while we are sleeping.
In Mark 4:26-17, there is this verse. “Then he said, “The kingdom of God is like a man sowing seed on the ground, and while he sleeps and wakes day and night, a seed sprouts and grows, and he does not know what happened.” In other words, the farmer sowed the seed, slept, and woke up, and without knowing it, God made the seed grow and bear fruit. In other words, God provides all the blessings we need, even while we are sleeping, in ways we are not even aware of.
In the Old Testament, we see two men named Joseph and Daniel. They are people to whom God gave various revelations through dreams. But isn't a dream given to you while you sleep? Is there any very spiritual person among them who dreams without sleeping? In other words, God reveals His will even while sleeping. For me, I dream almost every day. I was under a lot of stress because of some complicated problem, but a revelation in my sleep often solves the problem. Even in this case, the phrase “God blesses you even while you sleep” is established.
However, I don't know if there are people who are very quick-tempered and are asking for a sleep right now to receive revelation and receive blessings. However, if you look at the text in the New Standard Version of the Bible, it says, “He blesses you even while you sleep.” In other words, He will bless you even when you are awake, but you will also bless you when you are asleep. Therefore, there is no need to force yourself to sleep here to receive blessings when you cannot sleep.
The Bible says that it is God's grace to put us to sleep, but it is also God's grace to wake us up. In particular, the Bible says, 'Keep awake. There are quite a few verses that say, “Get up.” For example, Jesus said to his disciples who were sleeping in the Garden of Gethsemane: “When he came to the disciples, and saw him sleeping, he said to Peter, “Could you not have stayed awake like this for an hour with me? Watch and pray so that you may not fall into temptation” (Matthew 26:40-41).
And the Bible warns against sleeping like this. “You do not like to sleep, lest you become poor. “Open your eyes, and you will have enough bread” (Proverbs 20:13) “Laziness puts a man into a deep sleep, and a negligent man will hunger.” (Proverbs 19:15) “Do not let your eyes sleep, but close your eyelids. Don't do it.” (Proverbs 6:4) Do not be lazy in these verses to wake up. It contains the meaning of renewing your mind and awakening spiritually.
One old man murmured to another. “Ah- waking up in the middle of the night is annoying!” Then another old man replied: “What if I don’t wake up?” Hmm- guys, if you don't wake up from sleep, it means you're dead. Of course, many elderly people who are about to die want to die while they sleep. So, “I slept with a sigh and woke up to heaven.” I want to make this confession.
In the Bible, we often see Jesus waking up from sleep. A man named Lazarus fell ill and died. Then Jesus said to his disciples: “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep. But I am going to wake him up” (John 11:11), and when the daughter of Jairus, the ruler of the synagogue, died, he said, “Talithagum! Little girl, get up!” And when the widow’s only son in Nain died, he said, “Young man, get up!” By speaking, he awakened those who were sleeping, that is, the dead.
If we look at the thought expressed in the Bible, we should give thanks whether we eat or drink, give thanks for good or bad things, give thanks if we sleep, and give thanks if we wake up. To do this, we must clearly recognize that God blesses us even when we are asleep and gives us blessings even when we are awake.
If we are not grateful for the moment we are sleeping, we will be incompletely grateful for only two-thirds of our lives because we sleep for one-third of our lives. However, if we recognize that even the moment we sleep is a moment when God blesses us, we will be able to spend our whole life in gratitude. In a way, sleep seems to mean nothing. So, after sleeping, I sometimes feel guilty about wasting time for nothing. But we wonder why a God, who never sleeps, devised sleep for our creatures.
Psalm 121:4 says, “He who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.” But all creatures must sleep. In a way, when we sleep, we become aware of ourselves. “Aha, seeing you sleep like this, I am not God!” Everyone, no matter how powerful you are like a tiger, you must stop what you are doing and sleep like a child. Through sleep, we can realize that we are weak and humble ourselves.
Cervantes, who wrote Don Quixote, wrote a poem about sleep: “Great is the Giver of sleep. Sleep is like a cloak, which covers thoughts and cares and everything. Sleep is food to the hungry, water to drink to the thirsty, heat to the cold, and refreshing to the hot. You make a sleeping shepherd and a king alike, and a fool and a wise man. But sleep is scary. It is like death.”
Gentlemen, God makes us sleep and wakes us up. And we can feel the providence of God who loves creation through the daily routines of sleeping and waking up. Therefore, we give thanks when we sleep, and we give thanks when we wake up. Guys, how much more do we need to sleep in the future? And how much longer do you have to wake up from that sleep? But don't forget, God wants to be glorified by sleeping and waking up, and at the moment of sleep and waking, He is diligently running to bless us in this foreign land. I pray that this grace will come to you in full during sleep and waking.