I’ve had some bouts with insomnia lately. I think my brain races atnight because I don’t take the time to process things properly in the busy-nessof the day. I hope that blogging can help with that a little bit. Maybe if I force myself to sit down and think through things on a regularbasis, my brain won’t have to stay awake into the wee hours bouncing from onething to the next…it’s worth a shot, anyhow.
The last bout of insomnia was a couple nights ago. I was awakened at3am and tossed and turned for an hour and a half before finally dozing backoff, only to be awakened in the middle of a good rem sleep by my alarm. Time to get up and do it again. Before dozing back off to sleep, though,I was thinking about sleep, and how our bodies need it for restoration. Ipondered over the past seven years, over the loss of our home, our transplantto northern Idaho, the spiritual searching that was going on there, the loss ofmy parents, my husband’s mother, and all the other “old things” Godhad pruned from my life, including ideals, relationships and treasured possessions. And a thought came to me; could it be that our spirits also require atime to rest and rejuvenate as well? Maybe in the night of our lives,God is doing a work underneath the surface, building us, transforming ourspirits into His own likeness; preparing us for the “new thing” He has in store.
I wasn’t sure if that’s biblically sound, but the more I’ve pondered it, the more itmakes sense to my heart. That beautifulpassage of Psalm 23 has been such an incredible encouragement to me through mylife. And just when I thought I had seeneverything there was to see in it, this passage popped out at me this morning. Herestores my soul. WAIT!!! I ran the memorized passagethrough my mind a couple times to make sure…that phrase follows He makes me lie down and immediatelyprecedes He leads me. So, he makes my lie down, restores mysoul, then leads me on the right path, and I have nothing to fear, even whenthat path may take me through valleys. If He hadn’t made me lie down and restored my soul first, I might havegrown too weary, or I may have wandered onto the wrong path and missed Hisblessing.
I’m eager to reach the next part of this Psalm; the part where He prepares a table for me in the presence of my enemies, anoints me, and makes my cup overflow. When I can say with certainty “surely goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life”.
New Things 