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Did you know sleep is a spiritual weapon? It is! Let me tell you a story and then share a few insights from the Bible.
My husband, Eric, has a very demanding job. He is the co-owner of a small business, and he often works until late at night just to keep up with his responsibilities. Needless to say, he doesn’t get a lot of sleep. One night, when I was going to bed, but he was still working at the computer in his home office, I told him I wished real life was like the German fairytale about the elves and the shoemaker.
It’s the story about a poor, struggling shoemaker who leaves an unfinished pair of shoes on his desk. When he wakes up in the morning, the shoes are finished. It happens a few times, so eventually, the man stays up all night to watch. He sees a couple of elves sneak into his house and complete the shoes. “I wish you could go to bed now,” I said wistfully, “and when you woke up in the morning, all of your work would be finished.”
Eric smiled and I could see how tired he was. “Too bad there aren’t any little elves to update QuickBooks for me,” he said.
The next morning, Eric was really dragging. He’d only slept a few hours, and now, he had to head into the office to work all day. I felt bad for him and prayed that God would show me a way to help him.
A few days later, during my Bible reading, God showed me that sleep helps us not only mentally and physically, but spiritually as well.
How is Sleep a Spiritual Weapon?
Sleep Reminds Us That We Can Trust God
“Then he got into the boat and his disciples followed him. Without warning, a furious storm came up on the lake, so that the waves swept over the boat. But Jesus was sleeping” (Matthew 8:23-24, NIV).
Jesus was able to sleep through a potentially life-threatening storm because He put His trust in God, not in His circumstances. His situation was frightening, but Jesus knew that His Heavenly Father was still in charge.
We can follow Jesus’ example in our own lives. When scary or challenging times confront us, instead of focusing on the difficulty before us, we can look to God and remember that He is always with us. He cares about what we are going through and He won’t leave us when things are hard. When we trust God with our problems, we worry less. And that helps us sleep more peacefully. A spiritual weapon of sleep is that it reminds us that we can always trust God.
Sleep Gives Us the Spiritual Weapon of Being at Our Best
“When you lie down, you will not be afraid; when you lie down, your sleep will be sweet” (Proverbs 3:24, NIV).
While the amount of sleep we get is important, the quality of our sleep matters too. A night of peaceful sleep rejuvenates us in a way the same number of hours of fitful sleep never will. When we are overtired, we can become impatient, short-tempered, and even cranky.
But when we’re well-rested, it’s much easier for us to love others the way God wants us to. We can notice the needs of those around us in a way we just can’t when we’re worn down from a lack of sleep. Sleep helps us operate at our best, and that’s when God can use us most effectively. Loving others well and being more mindful of the things God wants us to do each day is a spiritual weapon sleep provides.
Sleep Reminds Us of God’s Constant Presence and Infinite Power
“I will lie down and sleep in peace, for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety” (Psalm 4:8 NIV).
As human beings, we have fragile bodies. Just one night of poor sleep can make us feel worn-down. But God never gets tired. His power never runs out. And His love for us never runs out either. God is with us all the time. He loves and protects us. We can rest peacefully because we know that God will keep us safe.
Also, our need for sleep limits us, but God doesn’t share that limitation. When we sleep, it reminds us that God isn’t like us. He is all-powerful and all-knowing, and He loves us so much. Remembering that God is always with us—even protecting us while we rest—is a wonderful spiritual weapon provided by sleep.
Listen now to a short segment of a sleep story from Abide. Experience what falling asleep to Bible-based stories can do for your quality of sleep. Letting God’s Word cover you even when you’re not awake certainly counts as another spiritual benefit of sleep. This sleep story is based on 1 Chronicles 16:31-36.
While God doesn’t provide us with elves to finish our work for us, He does give us the gift of sleep, which offers many spiritual weapons as it restores us mind, body, and soul.
Let Abide be your daily companion as you seek to obtain the spiritual weapon of good sleep. Our more than 400 Bible-based sleep stories, like the one above, all exist to help you sleep better. Download the app and start a premium subscription. This will gain you access to the full-length version of our entire library of content. Use this link for 25% off.
Diane is a wife, the mother of five, and a writer. She writes about the important things in life: her family and her faith.
