A Theology of Sleep

Introduction

Sleep is a curious and odd reality, mainly because it is deeply frustrating and immensely rewarding, depending on who you speak to. For most young children, they hate going to sleep. Nap time is the epitome of pain and frustration. They cry, pout, and stomp, because their parents have the audacity to interrupt their fun and make them lie down. Children scream, “I don’t need sleep!” Many times, they are correct. For my young niece, ever since she was born, she can go for hours upon hours with just a tiny bit of rest. I will admit; I am slightly jealous of this fact and wish the same could be said in my life.

Then, for us adults, sleep is awesome. It is amazing and we cannot wait to hop in bed at night or enjoy a relaxing nap on a Saturday afternoon. Sleep is a beautiful gift that we long for at the conclusion of a hard and taxing day. What’s humorous and slightly ironic is how this blessing can sometimes be hard to find. We cram until three in the morning for an upcoming exam. We toss and turn because of back and knee pain. We work into the wee-hours, so that we can reach a last-minute deadline at our job. We even promise ourselves that we will only watch one video on the internet. Then, four hours later, our eyes are still glued to the screen at 1 a.m. As adults, we enjoy sleep and desperately need sleep, but we are not always the best at getting it.

In making this a little more personal, I have to briefly mention my own story. For me, sleep is so much more than a routine that I follow every night. Sleep is more than just getting under the covers and trying to find the most comfortable position. To be frank, sleep is something that I am intimately connected to. It is a profound part of me and it has literally changed the course and trajectory of my entire life.

It all started many years ago back in middle school. One day, I came home feeling a little drained and decided to take a quick power nap on the couch. Over the next five years, this one feeling of fatigue slowly transformed into a roaring monster. By the time I was a senior in high school, I was taking a four to five-hour nap seven days a week, while also getting over nine hours of sleep at night. Essentially, I was in bed 14 to 15 hours a day.

Of course, my parents took me to see doctor after doctor. Every physician would listen for a few minutes, and, then, you could tell by their body language that they had mentally checked out. They had already reached their conclusion and believed that there was nothing wrong with me. Others even strongly hinted at the fact that I was just a lazy teenager. This pattern continued for years until we received some beautiful wisdom from a dear friend. She suggested that I make an appointment with a cardiologist. Looking back, this recommendation proved to be a life-saving gift from the Lord. After a simple test, the cardiologist discovered a hole in my heart that was an inch in diameter and one side of my heart was three times the normal size. To fix these issues, I underwent open heart surgery at the age of 18.

Since then, I wish I could tell you that I have been miraculously cured and lived happily ever after. Sadly, this has not been the case. Even though my heart is doing much better (praise the Lord!), I have continued to battle with other illnesses, such as gastroparesis, multiple food allergies, numerous cysts, frequent skin rashes, recurring bouts of pericarditis and pleurisy, as well as quite a few other ailments. These health issues have caused me to continue experiencing ongoing fatigue, tiredness, and an ever-pressing need for sleep throughout the day.

A few years ago, as I sat back and reflected on the course of my life and these daily challenges with my health, a question began to form in my mind, “Is sleep described in the Bible?” Of course, I knew about the famous stories of Jesus sleeping on a boat and Delilah cutting Samson’s hair. Beyond these well-known accounts, I wondered, “How often is sleep a part of God’s story and what role does it play within His grand purposes?”

Over the course of months and years of studying, reading, and diving deep, the Lord has allowed me to see how our sleep is not just an action that we do every night like clockwork. It is not just a frustration for toddlers, nor is it something that simply helps me survive my litany of ongoing diseases. Sleep is actually a vital element within God’s creation and plan for humanity, as it’s one of the avenues by which He teaches, matures, and sanctifies our very lives.

Sleep is also not an incidental detail in Scripture. It is scattered across the entire Bible, from start to finish, and it is inherently tied to multiple individuals, significant events, key conversations, spiritual truths, and overarching periods in time and history. Literally, there is not a single section in the Bible that is left untouched by the reality of sleep.

The chapters that follow serve as an outflow of all that God has taught me and continues to teach me on a daily basis. I pray that this book will help you to see, maybe for the very first time, how significant and sanctifying your sleep truly is, as you discover the physical, spiritual, and theological ramifications of your nightly rest.