The Holiest Thing
A couple of weeks ago I was up at church trying to get some stuff done and it wasn’t working out. For one thing, I had a deadline, which was stressing me out. For another thing, everything I started, I threw out… it was all garbage. Not only that, but I was physically drained and draining all the more! My stress was mounting by the second and people kept walking in with questions or calling with problems! I felt myself getting darker and more volatile on the inside with every passing heartbeat. I looked forward in time to the rest of my jam-packed week and despaired because this was going to be my only chance to accomplish this thing, but how was I supposed to do that with depleted energy, repeated failures and constant interruptions?!
Whoa… I was about to tear my own head off with my bare hands when I remembered Norah. You see, being a dad has taught me a few things and one of them is this: There are very few problems that can’t be cured by a big, fat nap. Having a three-year-old is like playing basketball 24/7, but you’re always on defense, and it’s always a full court press. They fall off of couches, tables and major appliances and scream as if being tortured. They trip over thresholds, rugs and toys and scream as if being tortured. They throw stuff, hit themselves with stuff and break stuff and again with the screaming… They get happy and excited really quickly, but they also get scared and really upset with record-breaking speed. Sometimes Norah is just having one of those really weepy days where everything is drama and at some point Christy and I just look at each other and say, “That girl just needs to go to sleep.” And you know what? It works… she slams a big ole nap and usually wakes up cheerful and back to her bouncy little self.
I know, it sounds like something that works great on toddlers but has little to do with you in the middle of your real life, but I don’t think that’s actually true… in fact, this idea that a nap can cure you is Biblical! In 1 Kings 19 Elijah was on the run. He had just defeated and killed the 450 prophets of Baal after the Lord sent fire down to his soggy altar on Mount Carmel. It was the high-point of Elijah's career. He outran a horse-drawn chariot to Jezreel to tell Jezebel that God was in charge and that her days were done, but she was as mean and determined as ever. She told Elijah she would kill him before the sun came up again and filled with fear, he fled. He was traveling 80 miles south through the hot desert and after a while, he just lost heart. He was broken, tired, famished and wound up suicidal, praying for death: AKA, naptime.
He slept a while and woke up to see an angel making him some breakfast. The angel told him to eat, which he did and then he slept again. He woke up again to the same angel cooking it up once more. Again he ate and this time he was strengthened to journey on for 40 days to Sinai, where God Himself whispered to him. I have never personally had an angel cook me breakfast, but I know that when I get to the very end and I’m about to lose my wits, my patience and possibly my friends, the holiest thing I can do is stop everything and take a nap. We are spirit and flesh. Psalm 103 says, “He knows how we are formed, He remembers that we are dust.” In other words, He knows us and knows that sometimes, we just need a little sleep.
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