Tech Thievery?
Our modern world, with its many conveniences, can be a thief. The dawn of electricity, which helped us in plentiful ways, interrupted the natural processes of life heavenly Father designed to flow in sync with Him and the cycles of light. Advantageous as it is, false lighting disrupts circadian rhythms, which are primarily based on the sun.
Rapidly add more tech to the mix, and forget toxic soup, it's human soup—a very real effect in people without adequate sleep. Brains undergoing sleep deprivation can experience cognitive impairment similar to that caused by alcohol intoxication.
Sleep is essential to health, and it has been under assault from a variety of sources. Sometimes, we unwittingly participate in the attack on our sleep in our lifestyle habits. Interruptions to sleep outside our control happen. Mercy, Father. However, a modern cultural value of "crazy busy" or "connected 24/7" is not a fruit of the Spirit.
Science Confirms Covenant
In the nighttime, the body rests and repairs physically. Father imparts to us through His covenant in our physical bodies while we sleep, as well as through our spirits.
"I will bless the Lord, who hath given me counsel: my reins also instruct me in the night seasons." (Psalm 16:7 KJV)
Intriguingly, the King James version translates the Hebrew word "kilya" (Strong's H3629) as "reins." Its concrete definition is "kidneys, of physical organ." It also means "of seat of emotion and affection," which is why the NIV translates reins as "heart," and the NASB translates reins as "mind."
It's the glory of God to conceal a matter, and when science searches it out, that's a kingly function (Proverbs 25:2).
Science discovered a heart-brain-kidney network which can help or hurt cardiac response to pressure overload through a type of white blood cell (tissue macrophages) and the flight or fight side of the central nervous system.
Truth be told, all the physical body systems impact each other immensely, as Paul wrote, "Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ" (1 Corinthians 12:12 NIV). This interconnected impact occurs on the micro level of the biology and the macro level of the Body of Christ. (Photo via Unsplash)
If you are in covenant with your heavenly Father through your faith and choice to receive His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, as your Savior and Lord, then you have the right to lie down in peace and sleep through the night and receive the benefits therein.
Victoriously, though he spent many nights surrounded or pursued by physical enemies, King David proclaimed this covenant truth: "In peace I will both lie down and sleep, for You alone, Lord, have me dwell in safety" (Psalm 4:8 NASB).
It is the covenant loving-kindness, protection, and care that David experienced from heavenly Father which caused his physical biology (kidneys correlate to covenant) to process shalom (safety at the emotional and biological level) rather than fear, which activates the fight or flight response, and all the chemicals therein of the sympathetic nervous system. It was his connection to his relationship with heavenly Father and his nervous system response, through covenant, that allowed David to sleep well, even though he was not physically in a safe place. He literally experienced the dwelling place of the Most High in his physical biology, which is a reality (Psalm 91), so he could lie down in peace and sleep.
The Most Underestimated Power
It appears that choice, or the human will, is the most underestimated power we humans have. Jesus died to secure our ability to choose, and His ancient enemy fights to control it.
An abundance of our choices (which form lifestyle habits) are reactive. It's a human tendency to go with the flow, to reach for relief, to escape, etc. rather than be intentional about the direction we desire to go.
Our bodies require solid, consistent sleep. To sleep in peace in Father's safe presence—which your body feels even down to the cellular level—is a covenant right. When the physical body has that need met adequately and consistently, it automatically has at least some access to the "rest and digest" state (parasympathetic) of the central nervous system where healing happens, with no work required on our part. It is the goodness of Father in His design of our "fearfully and wonderfully made" biology (Psalm 139:14).
Practical Steps and Encouragement to Reclaim Sleep as Covenant Gift
In order to position ourselves through intentional choices that align with Father's design and covenant, it's advisable to avoid screen time and heavy eating at least one to two hours before bed, and allow the process of Father's natural light and digestive processes to work. Blue light blocking glasses help.
Investing in our relationship with Father and remembering His intervention in our lives in times of (relative) stability impacts our ability to sleep and to rest in times of turbulence. David's time keeping sheep in the pasture—during which he nurtured his relationship with heavenly Father—saved him on so many levels, preparing him for years on the run and stepping into the kingship.
I cannot emphasize enough what listening to and/or reading Scripture and praying before bed (and upon rising) will do cumulatively.
Also, drinking a glass of water close enough to bedtime to help the kidneys process can facilitate the overnight detox and health of the heart-brain-kidney network. (Photo via Unsplash)
Commit your night, your sleep, and your dreams to heavenly Father to anoint and appoint for you. He loves to do so, but often does not do what you would like because He honors your choice. Many times, it's our choice to avoid or to overwork. As a result, we don't ask, and then He does not act, and then we don't receive.
Hearing the truth strengthens your whole being. What a lovely gift it is for children to have bedtime stories with a parent who loves them. Include for them the truth that their heavenly Father loves them. Tell them, "He cares for you. You are safe here in His presence." When they hear that from a parent who loves them, it is frequency, yes, but it is physically changing the interplay in their biological systems and building them up in their faith.
Three Weeks to Change!
Rome was not built in a day, and neither is a life. Speaking this truth in love consistently to the children in your life will solidify them on the rock of Christ. It's actually easier with them because we're nurturing their faith, not drilling through rock layers built over the course of a life.
The Lord showed me that manifold patterns in our lives can be overturned and repatterned if we would apply a consistent twenty-one-day approach to them. Three weeks to change!
My point is this. You may choose to begin speaking truth in love to yourself and feel no change. One reason is because we have layers of life that built us in other directions. When we start a new pattern, we stand at the genesis of building a new neurological network. It's doable, but it does takes time and attention. Don't quit because you don't feel any change... yet.
No matter our age, we each are children of our heavenly Father. May we, too, speak this truth to our beings before bed so that, like David—though we may be surrounded by enemies—we both lie down in peace and sleep, because the LORD makes us dwell in safety.
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Crystal Wade
Hope StreamsÂ
Email:Â contact@hopestreams.net
Website:Â www.hopestreams.net
Crystal Wade writes to help people connect to their heavenly Father, and to keep good pictures of him visible—through real life stories as well as through prophetic words and teachings. Crystal and her husband Stephen received a commission from the Father to connect the generations to him and to each other so that they can start well, live well, recover well, build well and finish well. As part of that commission, they release materials to assist people of all ages in connecting to the Perfect Parent.
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