I'm Not Sleeping

Josh Bell
Written By Jeff Rybacki
 

“And when He arose from prayer, He came to the disciples and found them sleeping for sorrow, and He said to them, “Why are you sleeping?  Rise and pray that you may not enter into temptation.”

Luke 22:45-46

Many of us have experienced a situation where we may have sat down to rest for a moment of time and in the process we drift off to sleep only to be woken by someone else asking why or if we were sleeping and the typical reply is “I wasn’t sleeping.”  So often I find myself having an experience like this in my walk with Christ.  For a while all seems to go well and my time in the word and prayer is regular and profitable, but when difficult or stressful situations arrive, the routine is disrupted and then it becomes easy to “fall asleep” from exhaustion and give into the temptation of the flesh.  When this disruption happens, in fear and doubt I am tempted to quickly lose faith that God is in control and I begin to lean on my own understanding.  I then naturally pursue my personal desires apart from regular communion with God.  In these times I navigate the struggles of life from a worldly viewpoint instead of a godly one.

I confess that in these unusually strange times I find myself doing this more often.  I instinctively and sinfully lean on my own intuition and the result is frustrating.  I try to muster through the difficulties of life’s situations under my own power and fail to immediately recognize that apart from God I can do nothing in accordance with His will.  I make poor decisions, I am easily irritated, angry, frustrated and I grumble and complain about the simplest of things.  In despair I then find myself asking how did I get here?  Well…essentially, I fell asleep spiritually and, in my pride, I fail to readily admit it despite having recognized it.

Do you ever find yourself having the same issue?  If we are truly honest with ourselves, I think we all experience this every once and awhile.  Just like when the disciples kept falling asleep in the garden of Gethsemane on the night Jesus was betrayed, in a time when it is imperative that we are spiritually awake and alert, we in our weakness and vulnerability can easily succumb to spiritual drowsiness.  The key is to be able to quickly recognize that we are “nodding off” spiritually, confess it before we “fall asleep”, and immediately get up off the proverbial couch.  We need to get active, run to God, fervently seek him in prayer, be steadfast in our commitment to reading and studying His word, and take our eyes off of ourselves by seeking to love and serve those around us.  Paul says in 1 Timothy 4 7-8 that we are to train ourselves for godliness; bodily training is of some value, but godliness is of value in every way.  When a person trains, they are disciplined, alert, and active.  They are committed to fighting against the temptation of laziness and their devotion wards off lethargy.  We too are to train spiritually aggressive in such a manner.

I know I keep pressing on the issues of prayer and reading the Word, but these are the primary tools God has provided us to remain close to Him relationally and the foundation that enables us to walk in His ways.  In that close fellowship we are empowered by the Spirit to be fruitful for His purpose.  In times like these we need that close fellowship, so we will not fall into the temptation of being influenced by the world.  As we have seen lately the world is very confused, lost, and rather chaotic.  The world should be the last place we seek wisdom and guidance from.  Only in Christ can we have a right perspective about this life and in that godly perspective will we be given the ability to have a sound mind when responding to the situations of the world.

So, in closing…wake up everyone!  “See that no one repays anyone evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to everyone. Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise prophecies, but test everything; hold fast what is good. Abstain from every form of evil. Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it.  (1 Thessalonians 5:15-24)

Jeff Rybacki
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