“O LORD, remember in David’s favor
all the hardships he endured;
how he swore to the LORD
and vowed to the Mighty One of Jacob,
“I will not enter my house
or get into my bed;
I will not give sleep to my eyes
or slumber to my eyelids,
until I find a place for the LORD,
a dwelling-place for the Mighty One of Jacob.”
(Psalm 132:1-5)
What are you willing to lose sleep over?
It’s an important question. It’s important because it reveals deep values and deeper loves.
Sleep, of course, is an essential of life. Do even 10 minutes of research online about what happens when you don’t sleep enough and you’ll find that literally every aspect of your life is eroded or diminished. Or, just ask anyone who has struggled with insomnia.
So, when we are willing to forgo sleep, we must be willing to do so for something that we deeply, deeply value and love….
Like a parent, up late, checking on a sick child’s fever.
Like spouses, wrestling through seemingly unquenchable conflicts, seeking a way to save the covenant they’ve made together.
Like a Christian, at prayer, working through the woes of the world God “so loved” (and loves), but that seem to be winning out all the same.
I suspect in our pursuits to try to live well, one of the best questions we can ask ourselves is “what am I willing to lose sleep over?” And then we must deal with the answers honestly.
Is work worth it? Maybe. Work provides for our families, but it can also shatter our boundaries and become a demi-god in our lives.
Is pleasure worth it? Less likely, though a short visit from out-of-town friends almost guarantees a late night.
Whatever the specifics, it is an interesting rubric that helps reveal ourselves to ourselves.
The inverse is also true. What would we never consider losing sleep over?
To this question, we have to ask if we’re truly living authentically to the answers. For example, someone cannot spend their days fighting about politics on Facebook and then say, “I wouldn’t lose sleep over it.” Really? Then why spend your days that way?
I suspect most of the issues in the so-called “culture war” (e.g. abortion, race, LGBTQ rights, war, policing, the greatness or not of America, etc.) are issues that most aren’t willing to lose sleep over. And yet oftentimes our daytime activities betray our nighttime realities.
David was willing to lose sleep over the right worship and esteem of God. That seems good and reasonable. It is equally valid to lose sleep over the pursuit of God’s justice in our world. What is not acceptable, however, is to put on the airs of such yearning, but to know down deep how inauthentic the pursuit is.
Friends, there are good, holy, loving reasons to lose sleep – striving for God’s justice chief amongst them – so let us not give ourselves over to any demi-gods along the way. Lord knows, we’re going to need the energy for what actually matters most. Amen.
