For the bed is too short to stretch oneself on it, and the covering too narrow to wrap oneself in it. Isaiah 28: 20 NRSV
This verse caught my eye as I was reading this section of Isaiah. My first thought was: God has short-sheeted the bed! But this is not a joke. This says something about being able to rest easy at night.
How is your rest these days? Do you toss and turn? Can't get comfortable? Too hot, then too cold? Is your spouse snoring too loudly or grinding their teeth? Are you having nightmares and dread closing your eyes? Indigestion or aching joints keep waking you up? Praying, counting sheep, reading...does nothing help you to find that blissful sleep you yearn for?
Perhaps it isn't your prayer life as it is your day-to-day living that needs some improvement.
Isaiah 28 speaks to the rulers of the people in Judah: leaders, priests, prophets, kings. No one is exempt from God's judgment. God is sending a message but they won't be able to understand or interpret it. Instead, they have made an agreement in order to put off their own death and loss of power. But it won't help them sleep at night. Their agreement is with the very people who will come and kill, destroy and take what is left into exile. Their trust is very much misplaced as they think they have kept what they have but they will soon lose it. They have made their own bed and now they must lie in it: but not to sleep.
God, you speak to us on a daily basis but sometimes we just aren't listening. We think we are in control and have all the answers. You want us to sleep at night and we will if we listen to you and trust you. We pray for a good night's sleep -- tonight and always. In Jesus' name. Amen.
Copyright 2010 Amelia G. Sims
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