The Blessings and Danger of a Little Sleep
A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest, and poverty will come upon you like a robber, and want like an armed man.
Proverbs 6:10-11
Our roads have ditches on both sides, and in life there are dangers on the right and the left. On one side is the person who is lazy, who sleeps late and despises work, who does everything with a poor effort. On the other hand is the person who in a state of anxious worry and hectic activity frantically works and restlessly sleeps.The Christian and biblical ideal is the one who wakes up early and goes about his work diligently and at the end of the day rests peacefully.
The Proverbs 6 passage above warns of the ditch on the side of laziness. Psalm 127, however, warns of the ditch on the other side.
It is in vain that you rise up early and go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil; for he gives to his beloved sleep. Psalm 127:2
We work better when we sleep well. Rest prepares us for work, but work should be entered into sincerely and diligently.
We begin with rest: We enter into life helpless. As babies we must be fed and cared for, watched over for years to keep us from danger. We attend school for a fifth to a third of our lives before we are able to make a serious contribution in this world. In the biblical mindset, the day began with sunset, to remind us we must rest before we work. Adam was created on the sixth day, on Friday, so the first full day of his life was the night’s rest before the day’s work. Adam witnessed a sunset before he ever saw a sunrise.
In Christ we also begin with grace, with trust, and with spiritual rest. In the Jewish experience, the deliverance from Egypt, the introduction of the Passover, and the victory at the sea from the Egyptian army before He gave them the Law. They were told, “Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the LORD, which he will work for you today” (Exodus 14:13) before they were told, “Listen to the statutes and the rules that I am teaching you, and do them, that you may live” (Deuteronomy 4:1).
And this is consistent throughout the Bible: Abraham and Sarah were an elderly childless couple when God called them; Jacob was given the vision of angels ascending and descending between heaven and earth before he was given the name Israel. Saul the Pharisee was first converted by grace, his religious work in Judaism shown to be useless for attaining righteousness, and initially even as a Christian set aside for a time of spiritual growth before he became Paul the Apostle.
We stand and watch the miraculous work of God to forgive us our sins, to redeem us from self effort, to teach us to trust in Him and in His grace before we begin to serve. And in our daily work, even in our secular jobs, the Christian is to begin with faith and trust in God, by resting in His love and reliability, before we begin to work. Resting in Him is the foundation we need to build our confidence and prepare us to work.
Miles J. Stanford in his classic work “Principles for Spiritual Growth” poignantly observed:
It seems that most believers have difficulty in realizing and facing up to the inexorable fact that God does not hurry in His development of our Christian life. He is working from and for eternity! So many feel they are not making progress unless they are. swiftly and constantly forging ahead. Now it is true that the new convert often begins and continues for some time at a fast rate. But this will not continue if there is to be healthy growth and ultimate maturity. God Himself will modify the pace. This is important to see, since in most instances when seeming declension begins to set in, it is not, as so many think, a matter of backsliding.
John Darby makes it plain that “it is God’s way to set people aside after their first start, that self-confidence may die down. Thus Moses was forty years. On his first start he had to run away. Paul was three years also, after his first testimony. Not that God did not approve the first earnest testimony. We must get to know ourselves and that we have no strength. Thus we must learn, and then leaning on the Lord we can with more maturity, and more experientially, deal with souls.”
In rest we enter into our service for Christ and into our secular work. The one who has learned to rest in Christ is now free to serve in Christ. Even secular work is considered service for Christ, because we are commanded, “Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men” (Col. 3:23). To trust in God and to work in the reality of His faithfulness and power are the basic ingredients for a successful life. The one who trusts Christ has more energy for work, has more peace after work, has more divine creativity within his job, and has a more cooperative spirit within the job place.
To be a follower of Christ is a call to a responsible lifestyle, to be someone who contributes to the health and wealth of society, to be someone who is a good neighbor in his community and among his colleagues at work. Resting in Christ does not mean laziness, and we should be careful not to give into slothfulness.