Eight Out of Ten Christians Suffer from this Sleeping Disorder

All the good storytellers (and even the bad ones) know the secret to getting the enemy into a well-guarded city –

You just have an enchanter (or a wizard or an evil queen or a saboteur) cast a sleeping spell over the watchmen and the on-duty guards so that the enemy simply slips through the gates.

And you do this at night so the everyday soldier, the peasant, and the king are also snoring in their beds.

Sleep, the perfect weapon we employ against ourselves on behalf of the enemy – evidence that darkness and sinners twist every good and perfect thing.

Sleep, as God intended it, is a gift to humans. Every day (night) we’re reminded that we’re limited, we’re finite, we need to rest and recharge. We remember there is only One who doesn’t need to lie down and close His eyes. Only One who carries on at all times. The God who loves, guards, and watches over us:

“I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth. He will not let your foot be moved; he who keeps you will not slumber. Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.” Psalm 121:1-4 (ESV)

This distinguishes God from His creation. His creation sleeps. He has no need.

We have a gift from God and are right to enjoy it in its place and time. The gift becomes an aid to the enemy when we sleep when we should be awake. If we sleep all day. If we sleep when we should be on guard. If we sleep when we should work. If we sleep when we should watch.

If we indulge in sleep when we should be awake, we will likely awaken in chains.

And don’t believe for a second that enchanters only exist on the pages of fairy tales. If we follow Jesus, we are pursued by an enemy, a master deceiver, a designer of deception, a composer of lies.

Peter warned that the devil is after us. “Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.” I Peter 5:8  Like a man with a white van offering candy to children, Satan lures us into his rolling rest-mobile for a nap when the sun is high, pours a potion in our sippy cups, and drives us deep into the forest of ensnaring sin so we wake up lost, immobilized, and wondering if we’ll ever find the way home.

And as we sleep, He invades our city. We are the watchmen. We are the guards. We are the sons of the High King charged not only with guarding the city but also with furthering the great kingdom until He comes. If we sleep, we’re not the only ones who lose.

“Besides this you know the time, that the hour has come for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed. The night is far gone; the day is at hand. So then let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light. Let us walk properly as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in quarreling and jealousy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.” Romans 13:11-14

This is the waking elixir, the antidote to the poison apple, the remedy for the sleep disorder afflicting eight out of ten believers. Cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light. Give no harbor to the enemy. Make no provision for the flesh. Refuse to believe the lies. Join the resistance.

Break every chain.

Break every chain.

Break every chain.

We have become the church of the snooze alarm, the church of the midday nap, the church of the narcoleptic soul, and our patron saint is Rip Van Winkle.

This is a dangerous time to sleep. As the T-shirt says, loved ones, we can rest when we’re dead.

How does one wake a sleeper? There are no pleasant methods, are there? Sound the alarm, switch on the light, make some noise, apply buckets of living water directly to the sleeping face, pull off the covers, remove all comfort, overturn the beds.

It’s annoying to be awakened from sleep but thou art called to annoy, loved ones. Go forth and annoy.

God given sleep is a gift to humanity. When it is time to rest, rest and be blessed. But spiritual slumber is an evil work of the enemy who wants company in his eternal destruction. Refuse to aid and abet. Rise and awake, O sleeper.

What did one domino say to the other? We don’t have to fall.

If you want to set off annoying alarms in your church, I’ll be happy to join you! Invite me over and we’ll sound the alarm together!