I woke up this morning, with a verse that I have not pondered since my college days, clearly upon my mind and in my heart-
Psalm 127:2 “God grants sleep to those He loves”
It was one of those moments that I knew the Lord was speaking to me directly. The past month my life has consisted of very little sleep…besides working very late into the wee hours of the morning several times a week, I also have a sweet baby who nurses at least once if not twice during my “sleeping” hours and has got it into his mind that 6:30am is a perfectly fine time to get up for the day. (I however am not, nor have ever been, a “morning” person and would love for a wake up call to be a bit later…say 8 or 9am)
Last night however I got to sleep for 9 hours (not without nursing once…but still 9 full hours!) and when I awoke with this verse being sweetly and softly spoken in my heart and mind, I knew that the Lord was telling me He loved me. What a wonderful way to wake up – in the loving arms of Jesus!
When I went to crosswalk.com to find out exactly where that verse was located and typed in “sleep” to the search engine, I became amazed at how much more the Lord had for me this morning. Here is the context of that verse Psalm 127: 1-5 –
Unless the Lord builds the house, its builders labor in vain. Unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchmen stand guard in vain. In vain you rise early and stay up late, toiling for food to eat– for he grants sleep to those he loves. Sons are a heritage from the Lord, children a reward from him. Like arrows in the hands of a warrior are sons born in one’s youth. Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them. They will not be put to shame when they contend with their enemies in the gate.
Wow! Did God ever have a specific word for me today.
- First, the reason I have been staying up so late at night is because I have been working on taking Jim Elliot Christian High School to a new level of excellence. (To read the story of how we started this school read here, or here) I know He was gently reminding me the it was HIS job to build the “house” or in this case the school and that while I needed to work hard and use my gifts and talents for His glory, He was the one that would accomplish the goal. So on to my knees I will go – giving it all over to God.
- Second, I have been working very hard to put food on the table, as our financial situation has been very tight for over a year and I have been doing many extra things to help my dear darling hubby “make ends meet”. I felt a bit of the Lords gentle rebuke in the words… “in vain you toil”… ok Lord once again I submit to trusting in You to provide for our “daily bread”. (Now don’t interpret this wrongly, I do believe that the Lord wants us to work hard, and believe me their are plenty of scriptures warning us severely about being lazy, loving sleep etc… I just know the Lord was emphasizing to me that — I, with my driven “I’m going to make it happen” personality, needed to get out of “overdrive”)
- And look He even reminded me of what a blessing and reward it is to have another sweet baby to nurse throughout the night and to get up early for. Not too mention the blessings of my “quiver” of the 6 princesses as well. I am truly blessed! (Perhaps someday I’ll write about when the Lord gave me a full quiver conviction.)
Does the Lord want to speak to us and give us guidance, wisdom, assurance and answers each & every day through His Spirit and His written Word? Yes, He does! What is the Lord saying to you today?
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