THE CURE FOR INSOMNIA

Fears have a way of growing, distorting and threatening to control us during the nighttime. In daylight hours we are more rational and can often retain some kind of perspective. We can surround ourselves with noise and distraction and seek out company and comfort. But in the dark, in the silence, monsters lurk and they can be hard to subdue. “Answer me when I call to you, God,” we mutter as we toss and turn. “Give me relief from my distress” (1).

Psalm 4 offers some wonderful advice for those of us who find our sleep disrupted by anxiety.

First, sleepless nights are not the time to question basic assumptions about God, such as whether he hears us when we pray. Assume he does (3). Secondly, we should use the wakeful hours as an opportunity for quiet reflection. Let’s not allow our thoughts to run off in unhelpful, even sinful directions, but instead “search [our] hearts” (4). Thirdly, we’d do well to renew our trust in God. Sleep is an act of surrender. We are as vulnerable as babies in our slumber, but that is okay, because in the most profound sense, God gives us safety (8). He watches over us, his Holy Spirit is within us, his angels guard us, and his peace passes all understanding.