Search Leighton Ford Ministries

Reflections | Dr. Leighton Ford (Mentoring)

The Body – Alice Fryling

June 12, 2014

Conversations Blog – April 2011

The Body
Alice Fryling

My Theology of Sleep

Sometimes I do not like my body. Especially at 3 am when I can’t sleep. Insomnia is an unwelcome nocturnal companion. It’s in my genes. I can’t get rid of it.

In my better sleepless moments, I pray for patience. Or I try to think good thoughts. In my worst moments, I am angry. God knows I need sleep. I have a big day tomorrow. If I can’t sleep, I won’t be able to wake up for my devotional time (which I really do love) and then I will be tired the rest of the day. Come on, Body, go to sleep!

I have had this conversation with myself, with God, and with my body so many times that it is getting boring.

Then one day I began to wonder why God created humans to need sleep. Why would God create us to work, and play, and love, and then keep us incapacitated for about one-third of our lives? Perhaps, I mused, because when we are asleep we are totally out of control. Surrendering to God’s control is our lifelong spiritual journey.

Enter a personal theological insight: If sleep is a time when we are out of control, then my sense of being out of control when I can’t sleep may be transforming me. Insomnia may be a spiritual discipline of learning that I am not in charge of my life. When I am asleep, I am out of control. When I am lying awake, I am also out of control. My theology of sleep tells me that either state of being is a place of surrender.

As I have learned to welcome my insomniac moments, I am finding my self-surrendering to God a bit more even when I am awake. That is a good thing.

Alice Fryling is a spiritual director and the author of several books, including The Art of Spiritual Listening: Responding to God’s Voice Amid the Noise of Life (WaterBrook Press) and Seeking God Together: An Introduction to Group Spiritual Direction (InterVarsity Press).

Leighton

Previous Article Next Article

Please complete the form below and we will be in touch with more information.
Name(Required)
Church Location
This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.