Psalm 127:2--We Need Sleep!

"It is in vain that you rise up early
and go late to rest,
eating the bread of anxious toil;
for he gives to his beloved sleep." (ESV)

Let's keep trucking through this great psalm and see what this second verse can teach us about family life....

Life can get so overwhelming in our culture. As a young husband, father, and pastor, I have "risen early," gone "late to rest," and "ate the the bread of anxious toil." Why do I do those things? Why do we do those things?

It's not wrong in-and-of-itself to wake up super early or stay up super late or to work extra hard. It's the attitude of our hearts as we do those things that can become sinful. The word "anxious" sticks out to me in this verse. If our toil, extra efforts, and sleeplessness are driven by anxiety and by a desire to control outcomes or situations, then we have slipped into sinful and "vain" behaviors.

Our bodies need rest. But in our culture, we just ignore that need and pretend like we never tire. We convince ourselves that if we just woke up one hour earlier or stay up one hour later or put in a few more hours at work, we will finally get everything done that we should. We'll finally have made "enough" money. We'll finally have that to-do list completed. We'll be able to get that birthday present for our spouse or child. We'll be able to take that family vacation we've been dreaming of. We'll get that much-needed promotion. But what do we lose in the mean time?

We are distracted--or even absent--from our family.

We need to remind ourselves that sleep and rest are gifts from God. C.J. Mahaney recommends in his book Humility: "Before going to sleep (each night), receive this gift of sleep from God and acknowledge His purpose for sleep." You see, by making us as creatures who need sleep, God has given us a daily reminder that we are limited beings. Only He never sleeps and never tires. Only He is ultimately capable of providing for our families. When we work so hard and strain our bodies almost to exhaustion, we might think that we are honoring God by our efforts. But if we are doing it with an anxious heart that is convinced it is up to us (limited as we are), then we are actually doing the opposite. We are denying His provision and His oversight into our lives.

Anxiety can eat you alive. I speak from experience. When you are driven by a desire to control and fix situations and by the goal of crossing off an endless to-do list, you'll never be satisfied. You'll "eat the bread of anxious toil" indefinitely. So be reminded as a mother, father, husband, wife, and employee today that, as Mahaney has also said, "Only God gets His to-do list done each day." I'll leave you with a further thought of his...

"No matter how much planning, scheduling, and discipline is present in my life, I will never completely redeem the time. I am a finite creature, limited in what I can accomplish, and further limited by my sin. So it should surprise nobody that I leave to-dos undone each and every day. My joy is not derived from the flawless execution of my goals. My joy each day is derived from the person and work of Jesus Christ on the cross. Only God gets his to-do list done each day. I need the cross of Christ each day." -taken from his blog entry The To-Do Lists are Never Done