Though insomnia is a complex and multifaceted condition, anxiety plays a major role. The emotions we feel in our spirit take a toll on our bodies, for we are integrated beings, and it is naive to think we can separate one from the other. Our bodies can sense our fear and detect our distress, sometimes even before we are conscious of it. In this way, we must learn to listen to our bodies- often, they are trying to alert us and get our attention, flagging us down to say, “Stop! Something isn’t right!”

I lie down and sleep; I wake again, for the LORD sustains me (Ps 3:5 NRSV). 

Taken out of context, these words strike the reader as infinitely hopeful and unreservedly inspirational. We assume the author to be in a season of sustained peace and tranquility, sleeping soundly without a care in the world or a single worry upon their hearts. However, if we back up just a few verses, we see that nothing could be further from the truth!

Psalm 3 is a heartfelt prayer offered in a time of extreme unrest and turmoil. “Many are my foes,” King David laments in verse 1, wrestling not only with a general threat of insurrection but the specific sorrow and confusion of a rebellious and power-hungry son, Absalom. Truly, David, in this moment, knew both a grief and vulnerability that few of us can even begin to fathom. And yet, his spirit was perfectly at peace, and his heart was set free from fear. How could this be?

It is easy to assume that peaceful sleep demands a peaceful life. We (quite naturally) believe that a restful spirit is closely linked to the absence of conflict or distress. Conversely, when we find ourselves in seasons of pain or loss, rarely do we expect to enjoy the blessing of a quiet disposition. However, Psalm 3 forces us to reassess these assumptions and turn our approach to anxiety and sleeplessness upside down!

His ability to sleep in peace is tied not to his circumstances but to the sustaining power of the Lord. He does not deny the fact that great challenges press upon him from every side. To do so would be dishonest and only a temporary reprieve. No, he knows he is surrounded by evil, yet is also filled with the perfect peace that comes from being known and loved by the Lord.

In fact, for us as followers of Christ, David is meant to remind us of an even more perfect example of calm in the midst of a storm. 

Jesus was sleeping at the back of the boat with his head on a cushion. The disciples woke him up, shouting, “Teacher, don’t you care that we’re going to drown?” When Jesus woke up, he rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Silence! Be still!” Suddenly the wind stopped, and there was a great calm. Then he asked them, “Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith?” (Mark 4:38-40 NLT)

Why are you so afraid? How might you answer our Lord’s question if it were posed directly to you? What are the forms of chaos and conflict in your life that threaten to steal your joy and abiding peace? Likely, these are easy to identify. In fact, our problem is that we are often far too familiar with them! When we obsess over our fears and failures, we leave little room for an abiding faith in the Lord. We know the power of our adversaries. Are we even more intimately acquainted with the one who can silence them with a single word?

You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. (1 John 4:4 NKJV)