Psalm 4:4 – Tremble and do not sin; when you are on your beds, search your hearts and be silent.
Psalm 4:8 – In peace I will lie down and sleep, for you alone Lord, make me dwell in safety.
Hello My Friends!
Today is another day to live a blameless life. To seek peace and pursue it. We will be blameless today while we discuss the man who desires to lose more weight. Our focus at this time will be better sleep.
WHAT IS GOOD SLEEP and WHY DOES IT MATTER?
Many people pride themselves in how little sleep they think they need to function. They pride themselves in how much they accomplish and how exhausted they feel. Literally, we feel that we have attained success at the level of exhaustion we endure. We brag about our little sleep at times. We also feel no shame in planning for late nights or in living a life of little sleep and of regular, exhausted states. In addition, we have no shame in ingesting copious amounts of a caffeine to manage the deprivation we bring on ourselves. This caffeine not only costs us money (energy drinks are expensive; trips to the coffee shops are expensive), but the extra caffeine stresses all of our whole-body systems tremendously.
This scenario is not healthy. Caffeine instead of sleep. Caffeine instead of water. Caffeine instead of God’s peace. We sacrifice God’s peace and rest at the expense of our own health. Not only does lack of sleep cause stress on the entire body, including the brain and beliefs, but the fact that we combat this with caffeine is another jolt on the body and brain as well as a jolt to our finances due to the items we purchase when the exhaustion is yelling at us to move.
God gives his beloved sweet sleep. God has made us to need sleep. It is to be part of our day; truly, it should be about 1/3 of our day, 33% of our day. Nothing else in our day has this high of a percentage of time allocated to it except for “work” which is one of the many daily requirements for which sleep prepares us. Sleep is so important that not only is it a daily activity, but it is also a Sabbath activity if one embraces the invitation and command to rest on the Sabbath. Please take this seriously from someone who knows how sleep is able to wreak havoc in and on one’s life. I won’t go into this now, but I did have a period of time several years ago when my sleep was very inadequate. I do not wish this on anyone, nor do I take it lightly when others spurn that this could happen to them.
Good and Adequate Sleep
Let’s make it simple. Good sleep is not interrupted. It is about 8 hours per night, possibly more, possibly less. It is sound and deep. It is without sleep apnea and without interruptions of awakening. It occurs at nighttime and begins before 10 pm. It occurs well after one has eaten their last meal of the day. It occurs fairly quickly without tossing and turning due to stress, caffeine, anxious thoughts, or a full stomach. It is optimum when we are without food in our stomachs and certainly without the last hour of our awake time spent on YouTube, Netflix, the computer screen or the phone. It also occurs in the environment of a cool enough temperature which promotes it so that our bodies are able to cool down and become drowsy. Have I said enough?
In other words, sleep is a priority which means one is in bed by 10 pm, ready to rest, ready to be at peace, ready to relax and ready to let go of the problems and stress of the day. It means one has not just eaten their last meal with too much food on board. Indeed, the timing and regard for this is acknowledging the circadian rhythm. This is when we follow the natural patterns of sunlight. We get up with the sun and we go down with the sun. We work, eat, exercise, use the computer and technology and deal with problems of stress or other issues during the day, and then we sleep at night. We don’t exhaust and stress ourselves right up to the point of bedtime. We make it a priority. So, we prepare for 8 hours and begin these 8 hours by 10 pm with wind down time beginning an hour before.
Why Does it Matter?
Again, let’s make it simple. Basically, when we sleep our body repairs and clears clutter. When we sleep our brains repair and clear clutter and organize information. Even while we sleep, our Lord instructs us. While we lie on our beds at night and search our hearts, He too searches our innermost being. When our minds are calm and ready to rest, we are in a position to hear from the Almighty, to bask in His rest, to be instructed by Him and truly to mediate on His Word (day and night, remember?).
If we are exhausting ourselves with work, problems, computer time, entertainment, catching up, exercising, dwelling on issues or plain wasting time, we are not ready for sleep. And by the way, God did not command us to sleep. He commanded us to “keep Holy the Sabbath Day,” but he did not command us to sleep. However, He “invites” us to sleep. He “grants permission,” for us to sleep. He knows we need it, for He is the one who divinely ordained that we should sleep. Relish and embrace this with gratitude. What a break in our day…to enjoy sleep and rest.
Do not take this lightly. God knows best. His Word is pure and instructs us. All Scripture is beneficial for instruction and for reproof. God created us to sleep and rest for a reason. Let’s look at more “medically” sound reasons and beneficial lifestyle reasons that we would be wise to consider.
When we sleep our livers detoxify. Yes, even if you are not a heavy drinker, your liver is working on your behalf. This occurs mainly between the hours of 11 pm and 3 am. This is why we want to be sleeping at this time and without a big meal in our gut. If the body has to work on digesting food or is having trouble sleeping at this time, the liver will not detoxify as well. The body’s energy is needed for digestion rather than repair. Detoxification is part of this repair.
Our brains also detoxify at night. Our mind clears the clutter of the day. It gets rid of unnecessary information and stores other information. It connects information. (Ever hear of sleeping on it?) Our brains need this for the advantage of connecting synapses, for function and for repair. This does not even begin to convey what God’s Word, being the last thought on which we meditate at night, is able to do for our spiritual and mental health. Let’s consider taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ even upon our beds. This is a pure stress reliever and brings hope.
Our bodies need rest at night. Our muscles need this rest and repair. Our digestion needs this rest and repair. Our immune system needs this rest and repair. In truth, sleep is our friend, a friend who replenishes. If we overload our systems with sugar, seed oils, stress, entertainment, screen time, problem solving, work, exercise and even too much social fun, we are depriving ourselves of what we need. We would never think about “fasting” from food because we were having too much fun or because we did not stop to eat. In time, our hunger signals would get the best of us, and we would crave to eat. We must give the same attention to the craving of the body to sleep.
Our brains are able to be tricked by our busyness. Yes, our brains will be stimulated by input and will not demand sleep. If we keep ourselves invigorated by endorphin, dopamine or cortisol rushes, we will not sense the “tired” and “relaxed” feeling which God allows for us to experience so that we will lay our heads down. All who are weary long to do this. Let this be permission for you to do it, too. Your brain, body and beliefs will thank you.
In addition, when we lack sleep, we cause stress on our bodies. Lack of sleep disrupts our natural cortisol production which, if functioning correctly, rises early in the morning while we sleep so that we are able to get up. It gradually decreases throughout the day so that we slowly become ready for sleep again. This is like a ski slope. It is high for functioning but gradually decreases for resting. However, if our sleep cycles are not following the normal sleep/wake cycle of the circadian rhythm, we are disrupting the cortisol cycle and balance in our bodies. This will increase stress which leads to other problems.
If our bodies are stressed by anything, cortisol is secreted. This arouses us, and it also increases our blood sugar so that we will spring into action. While this is a survival mechanism which God built into our bodies, it is a function of the body which could work against us. By sleeping enough, we are combating one avenue where cortisol could be out of balance. With increased cortisol and increased stress, our metabolisms are challenged, and our bodies will actually tend toward storing fat. This happens because when we are stressed, our bodies want to conserve for survival. So, the body will shut down the option to “lose weight” in case a “famine” could come.
Again, this is for survival. This is why we want to let rest and peace reign in our lives – so that our brains and bodies do not “think” we are stressed due to danger or need for survival. If we are stressed by lack of sleep, our bodies will respond. Also, when we lack sleep, the following day brings with it more difficulty to manage cravings, especially for sugary foods, which are not healthy cravings. This is another challenge for one who is trying to lose weight or for anyone who wants to eat healthy.
Yes, our bodies will respond by storing fat. In fact, studies have been done to support that poor sleep encourages weight gain and discourages weight loss due to the stress on the system. Furthermore, poor sleep also results in poor blood sugar regulation and increased cravings the next day not to mention that staying up late also increases the desire for fatty and high carb foods which are not healthy, and which will also contribute to weight gain. Sleeping brings health to the body, and this cortisol and blood sugar control is an absolute part of bringing peace to our picture of health. We need peace for health, and this does not occur without adequate sleep.
More could be said about sleep. Interestingly, books are written on sleep. Doctors become specialized in sleep. Many people undergo sleep studies to determine what is going on at night when no one is aware. Sleeping diagnoses such as narcolepsy, apnea, insomnia, restless leg syndrome and others demand the attention and intervention with therapies and pharmaceuticals which have side effects and work in each individual differently and with differing levels of success. However, the root of the problem must be fixed, and this occurs with an intentional effort to become strong in sleep and in the techniques to promote it.
I posit that in order to have “sweet sleep” we need God. We need His peace, and His peace becomes even more powerful when we accept and regard His command and permission to sleep and to rest in Him. This will improve how you feel every day and the energy you have, but it will also be influential in other aspects of your health as well. Yes, we need God, but we also must follow His lead in helping our bodies to relax so that we can enjoy the sleep and health He gives us. It will lead to better blood sugar control, decreased stress and inflammation, decreased cravings and much rest and repair in your brain, body and beliefs!
Seek peace and pursue it, my friends. Seek peace and pursue it today by making sleep a priority. Be blameless in sleep.