Peaceful Sleep

“When thou liest down, thou shalt not be afraid: yea, thou shalt lie down, and thy sleep shall be sweet.” (Proverbs 3:24).
The first bedtime prayer my mother taught me was: “Now I lay me down to sleep, I prayer the Lord my soul to keep. If I should die before I wake, I pray the Lord my soul to take.” I had a sweet communion with Jesus as a young child. Because of my family’s example and a religious upbringing, I knew about the Lord from the time I could talk. When I was nine, my pastor introduced me to Jesus, and I began an intimate relationship with Him (I even saved a place for Him in my bed each night, so that he would have somewhere to sleep). As a child, I used to be afraid of monsters under my bed, and I would run and jump up onto my bed, so the monsters couldn’t grab my feet. Once I got on the bed, I knew I was safe because Jesus could protect me. The Lord wants us to have that same confidence in Him as adults (only we no longer have to fear the monsters). Nevertheless, adults continue to face their own bogey-men at night: depression, worry, anxiety, lust, fear, etc. The Lord is able to deliver us from our fears. He wants us to sleep peacefully under the protection of His wings. In Leviticus 26:6, God tells the Israelites: “I will give peace in the land, and ye shall lie down, and none shall make you afraid: and I will rid evil beasts out of the land.” My mom used to say: “Sweet dreams” to me every night before I went to bed. The Lord will make our sleep sweet when we turn our fears over to Him and allow Him to fight our demons. Then we can be like Jesus on the Sea of Galilee; we can sleep peacefully in the mist of the storm.