September 2007 | Posted in • Life | (0) Comments |
We all know the story. Your four-year-old repeatedly whines that he is not tired, even as you see him repeatedly yawning. It is a fight to get him to lie down and go to sleep, but you know that as soon as his head hits the pillow, he will be down for the count. You tell him that his body needs rest in order to grow and be healthy, but he argues that he just can’t sleep.
“Why can’t you sleep?” you ask. “I don’t want to miss something,” he answers. “What do you mean, miss something?” He is completely serious when he replies, “Something might happen while I’m sleeping, and I would miss it.”
At this point, you smile to yourself. Your child has convinced himself that being overtired is worth waiting for something to happen. You give him a lecture on sleep and its values to the body, hoping that he will grasp the awesomeness of how God created his body to function and why sleep is so vital to his health. The sheer boredom of listening to you causes his eyes to close into peaceful oblivion.
Hhmm. Sounds silly when a child thinks that way, but adults are also guilty of staying up waiting for the elusive something. Most adults could say that their day consists of getting up, getting the kids ready and out the door, working, coming home, doing homework, fixing dinner, going to ball practice, going through the kids’ bedtime routines, doing dishes and a load of laundry, watching the news, and then sliding into bed wondering if tomorrow will be any different. Wow! Doesn’t that sound like fun?
So, we cut corners trying to get to the something fun in life. We stay up longer night after night, attempting to get more done, so that the next day will be easier and we will have time to do the things that we always want to do but never have time for. We rationalize our lack of sleep as a way to end the cycle of monotony in our daily schedules.
Missing a couple hours of sleep a night may not seem like a big deal, but when added together over time, a noticeable sleep deficit is created. Just think, one missed hour of sleep per night is equivalent to missing a full night of sleep by the end of the week! It is a lack of sleep that drives you to hit the snooze button on the alarm, drink too much coffee, and crave a catnap every day. But this is not the life that we are intended to live.
God created our bodies to function correctly with a period of work and a period of rest. Genesis 2:2 says, “And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done.” God created us in His image. God worked for six days, and then God rested. Our bodies are created to both work and rest.
Proper sleep helps our bodies recover from the daily wear and tear of work and stress. Sleep allows our muscles to relax, rejuvenates our skin, allows our hearts and lungs to enter “rested” states, and helps to boost our immune system. Yet we disregard the Word in Genesis, “Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work…” When we do that, we miss the blessing of living in abundance.
When we neglect to get enough sleep, our body faces a number of challenges that adversely affect our health. Neglecting sleep diminishes productivity, leads to a tendency to make mistakes, and causes irritability, headaches, fatigue, memory loss, inability to focus, drowsiness, and moodiness. With sleep neglect, we no longer operate to the best of our God-given abilities.
We must realize that the world will continue to push us to work-work-work. We live in a 24 hour-a-day busy lifestyle. Stores are now open on Sundays, and some are open all night long. Society tells us to climb the corporate ladder and to keep up with the Joneses. But what do we sacrifice for the world’s way?
We sacrifice living in abundance and the blessings of God. Our sacrifice is the health of our kids and of ourselves. Our bodies cannot maintain good health without proper care. The world’s route to good health has been focused on the aspects of diet and exercise, so much so that we have missed a fundamental part of our health.
Have you ever noticed how much harder it is to read your Bible when you are tired? Isn’t it also harder to pray? This is a tactic of the enemy to keep us worn down and spiritually numb. When not properly rested, it takes so much energy simply to get things done, that when the Lord calls us to serve, we are too tired to obey.
God commanded us to rest. “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the LORD your God. In it you shall do no work: you, or your son, or your daughter, or your male servant, or your female servant, or your cattle, or your stranger who is within your gates. For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.” (Exodus 20:8-11)
You may not be able to have Sundays off due to your work schedule, but you need to take the time for a “Sabbath rest,” a period when you focus on the Lord and your own wellbeing. Let’s not throw out the good diet and exercise routines, but also remember to get a healthy dose of sleep on a nightly basis.
Recommended Daily Sleep Amounts
| AGE | NIGHTIME SLEEP | DAYTIME SLEEP | SUGGESTED TOTAL |
| 2 - 3 years | 10.5 to 12.5 hours | 1 to 3 hours | 11 to 15.5 hours |
| 4 - 5 years | 10 to 12 hours | 0- 2.5 hours | 10 to 13 hours |
| 6 - 8 years | 9.5 to 11.5 hours | None | 9.5 to 11.5 hours |
| 9 -11 years | 9.5 to 10 hours | None | 9.5 to 10 hours |
| 12 -15 years | 8.5 to 9.5 hours | None | 8.5 to 9.5 hours |
| 16 -18 years | 8.0 to 9.0 hours | None | 8.0 to 9.0 hours |
| Adults | 7.5 to 8.5 hours | None | 7.5 to 8.5 hours |
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