“I bless the Lord who gives me counsel- even at night when my thoughts trouble me.” 

-Psalm 16:7 CSB

We all have those nights when sleep doesn’t come easy, when our thoughts refuse to stop. As frustrating as sleepless nights can be, what if they are the nights the Lord uses our troubled thoughts to bring to our heart much-needed counsel? 

Sleep is a gift from God. We can sleep in peace with the assurance that He has promised to sustain us. Because the God who keeps His people does not slumber or sleep, we can enjoy the gift of sleep.

What about the nights when sleep is difficult and minimal though? Each day is filled with a series of events and as Christians, the Lord uses all the different kinds of daily circumstances we experience to continue to shape us more into His image. Yet how often are we too busy and distracted to take the time to slow down and ponder in our heart the things the Lord is teaching us?

God uses our difficult, sleepless nights in many ways for our good. In the stillness of the night when we remember the Lord, through prayer and recalling the truth of His Word, He makes known to us the path to life.

When I think about this past year, there were a number of nights I couldn’t sleep.  Even though those nights were frustrating and painful, they were a blessing because of the ways I see now of how God used them to strengthen me in my walk with Him. I treasure the times I’ve experienced God drawing near to me as I draw near to Him. Some nights I’ve wrestled with a troubled conscience as God helps me to see sin in my life. Other nights a scripture kept going through my mind that helped bring clarity to a confusing situation. Other times I knew I needed to pray about what I kept on thinking about. There is nothing better than having a clear conscience before God, and it is worth the nights of wrestling.  God is always so kind; He generously gives us wisdom when we seek Him and He brings us comfort when we cry out to Him.

When we realize that God is our refuge, we will have assurance that we are safe in His loving care. Those who ignore the promptings of the Holy Spirit and run after other gods will only experience more suffering. The Lord alone makes us secure and confident we will never be abandoned even on the nights our thoughts most trouble us. Day and night, joy is found in the presence of God as He makes known to us in so many ways His goodness and perfect ways through His Word and through prayer.

Those nights when our thoughts seem most troubling and we cannot sleep, may God help us to see it as an invitation to draw near and to be still before Him. Rather than getting upset, let our sleepless nights bring us to reflection, to meditation on scripture and trusting God’s Spirit as He brings to remembrance the truth we need to hear. May we ask the Lord to help us to not waste the times sleep doesn’t come easy. As we consider our steps and seek God for wisdom, let our testimony be the same as David’s in Psalm 63:

“when I remember you upon my bed, and meditate on you in the watches of the night; for you have been my help, and in the shadow of your wings I will sing for joy. My soul clings to you; your right hand upholds me.”