Not sleeping?

Usually I fall asleep quickly and for the night, but last night didn’t. I prayed about the things nagging me, but didn’t “let go and let God” to well after midnight. While most of my friends envy my normal sleeping pattern, they complain of not being able to sleep or stay asleep most of the time. After not sleeping well, I’m not surprised that Piper’s devotions for today speak of our God who never sleeps!

My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth. He will not let your foot be moved; he who keeps you will not slumber. (Psalm 121:2–3)
The Lord is your keeper; the Lord is your shade on your right hand. The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night. The Lord will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life. The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forevermore. (Psalm 121:5–8)

Before reading about this, I sang praise songs. The one that came first in my collection starts out, “Oh to be like Thee…” and the rest of it describes many of those ways that often seem impossible. Being like Jesus is far different from all human thinking and action. I thought of how difficult it seems and how much I need the Holy Spirit to do anything or even think like Jesus. But I also need Him to sleep well.

After singing, Piper’s devotional reminded me that I am not responsible to transform my life. He says: “We are prone to think of ourselves as workers in God’s life. But the Bible wants us first to be amazed that God is a worker in our lives.” He quoted these promises:

From of old no one has heard or perceived by the ear, no eye has seen a God besides you, who acts for those who wait for him. (Isaiah 64:4)

He changes me by letting me see Him, by speaking to me and showing me Himself and it is by the vision of Him and His Word…

By which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire. (2 Peter 1:4)

Awake or asleep, I cannot be like Jesus by my own efforts. As these verses say, He is my keeper. He promises the change and because He does, I can do what He asks…

Since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God. (2 Corinthians 7:1)

 God’s commitment to complete the good work He has begun in me, even in the entire creation, can be painful at times, but it is for His glory and for more Christlikeness in me. Just being reminded of this settles my heart. I cannot do anything — a reality heightened by having that helpless feeling that comes from lack of sleep. But He never sleeps and even as I toss and turn, He is working out the perfections of His plan in the persistence of His heart.

I know that the promises God makes are primarily about changing me. I don’t change Him when I pray, even though prayer is part of that change, of making me more like Jesus. Yet it is by His promises, not by my prayers — awake or asleep. It is because He has granted me His nature, I am able to escape the corruption of sin, asleep or awake.

For all the promises of God find their Yes in him. That is why it is through him that we utter our Amen to God for his glory. (2 Corinthians 1:20)

PRAY: Jesus, I am so amazed how the gospel makes a difference in how I think about what You say. Last night I remembered the promise You make in giving Your beloved sleep, but as my readings remind me, I don’t claim Your promises — they claim me. You are not awake to jump into actions at my requests; I am awake to trust Your will for my life. I cannot “name and claim” anything, only to have a greater passion for your glory, only to be more like Jesus instead of being more like my old self. I want to “stand on your promises” whether You give me sleep or sleeplessness. I want to be like You and trust You to keep working in my life. You are the Potter and I am clay in Your hands — always, for You never leave me to go take a nap.               

A most splendid Structure . . .

 

When we go to a new city or watch television programs that take place in other parts of the world, the architecture often fascinates me. The ancient buildings in Europe, thatched roofs, brick, intricate carvings, the stainless steel and glass of modern creation, the homes in cities like Vancouver and Montreal, all of it speaks to human creativity.

The architecture in NT times is used to speak to spiritual realities. Then, the culture centered on the Temple in Jerusalem. Peter used that reality to teach the first Christians that God no longer dwells in an earthly temple but in a spiritual house not made by hands. He refers to the church and to individual believers as the dwelling place of God. This is the great privilege Christians enjoy: union with Christ, and this make our faith unique. Buddhists are not said to be in Buddha nor Muslims in Muhammad, or even in Allah, nor is a Confucian in Confucius. Only Christians are united with and receive their spiritual life from the object of their worship. The NT teaches that we are “as living stones, being built up as a spiritual house” (1 Peter 2:5). This is the most fascinating architecture I know!

When I came to Christ, the living stone, I became a living stone. I possess His resurrection life and draw from His spiritual resources. God “has granted to me His precious and magnificent promises, in order that by them I might become partakers of the divine nature” (2 Peter 1:4). I am part of His dwelling place along with millions of others who are joined together as living stones . . .

So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit. (Ephesians 2:19–22)

God did not build His household and abandon it. He says this:

Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you? If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him. For God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple. (1 Corinthians 3:16–17)

This verse uses a plural ‘you’ which means that His temple, the church, is not self-ruled but in-dwelt by the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:19) and set apart for God (2 Corinthians 7:1); holy, even to the point that God fiercely protects us. There will be severe justice for those who put any of God’s people to death.

I cannot turn a blind eye to this reality either. Parts of God’s household are being destroyed. Persecution is rampant in many countries. While others are beaten and killed for economic or ethnic hatred, those who follow Christ are attacked for no reason other than their attackers hate the Gospel. Jesus told a parable that has one line in it that explains their motivations. It implies ‘this man’ is Jesus:

But his citizens hated him and sent a delegation after him, saying, ‘We do not want this man to reign over us.’ (Luke 19:14)

The child’s stance of hands on hips and words like, “I will do it myself” explain much of the attack on God’s people. We bear the message that Christ has done it all for us and that giving our lives to Him means letting Him continue to reign, to be our Savior and our guide. We stop trying to do it ourselves and this is a raging sore spot for human independence.

PRAY: Jesus, more and more am I realizing the power of sin. it attacks my ego, my pride, brings me to my knees in helplessness or pushes me to ‘try harder’ and stand tall, to be my own person, to not let anyone, including You, to rule over me. If I, a living stone with the Son of God dwelling in me by Your Spirit, have trouble with sin, how can those who resist You even begin to overcome it, even recognize it? My heart feels great grief for those caught in sin’s trap, even as it snaps at me all the time. Thank You for giving me confidence in Your care and always assuring me of Your presence. I cannot live without You.

PONDER: Read Acts 17:24-32 and think of ways to share with others the reality of God who created them and cares for them.