Deadly Sleep

#MondayDoseOfInspiration

I know our readers cut across people from different religious leanings but permit me this morning to share with you a loaded nugget of wisdom I discovered from the Bible a while ago. I have been praying with this verse for a  number of years since the day I stumbled on it, but I got fresh insight (did i hear someone say hallelujah? Lol) to the verse on the dawn of this day in question.

"Consider and hear me, O LORD my God: lighten mine eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death; Lest mine enemy say, I have prevailed against him; and those that trouble me rejoice when I am moved."    Psalm 13:3-4 (KJV)

In times past when I prayed with this verse, I usually took it to mean sleep in its literal sense. This is because I am someone that is naturally blessed with the gift of sleep. I'll explain. I find it strange some times when I hear people say they suffer from insomnia and at the risk of sounding insensitive or shallow, I'm thinking,

"Is it that difficult really to sleep?"

Don't get me wrong, it's not that I don't have my days of sleepless nights too but most and generally, I find it pretty easy to drift to la-la land in no time so much so that my cheesy response was always a line from one of my many favorite bible verses;

"...for so he giveth his beloveth sweet sleep". Psalm 127:2 (KJV)

There is a kind of sleep called the sleep of death. It is the kinda slumber you fall into when you should be awake because even your enemy ain't sleeping. Sleep here doesn't just mean sleep in it's literal sense but means complacency.

 

Companies who become lethargic and do not constantly, strategically innovate will soon find competition kicking them out of business. It has been proven that one of the secrets of successful people is that they work (also read as strategise) when others are sleeping. Successful people spend fewer hours sleeping and work more. Truth is that alot of us spend times that could otherwise be converted to good use on frivolities during the day and when night comes we are too fagged out to even stay up to do any strategic thinking. Don't get me wrong. I am not saying one should work all through the 24 hours of the day, after all;

'All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy'

Jesus takes this a notch further when He said,

''I must work the works of Him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work".  John 9:4 (KJV)

Day here refers to one's youthful days. Youth is associated with increased physical strength, vigor, mental alertness while night is the time of old age when typically one is retired and should be taking a break. No matter how much you try to exert yourself at night, your strength will fail because you cannot cheat nature which is why Jesus emphasised that at night time, men can no longer work. Day time is meant for work and applying one's strength, both physical and mental as much as one can. There are risks that you can take during the day time of your life that you cannot venture to take at night otherwise you will die of cardiac arrest.

Day time is not meant for sleeping jokers. It's a time of staying up and working your socks off.

The subsequent verse says that a man that is giving to too much sleep will soon have his enemies mocking him. If you fail to apply yourself to your life's work and strive to leave a legacy behind after you are long gone, you will set yourself up as a candidate of mockery. Unfortunately, it is not only your enemies that will mock you but friends, associates, colleagues and even family members will make you a laughing stock.

"...lighten my eyes that I may not sleep the sleep of death...".

This should be someone's prayer today. As we go about our activities today with a new zest for life and renewed hope to face undauntedly whatever obstacle that may come our way, let us reflect on this word of wisdom and silently pray,

"Dear God, help me not to become complacent in the things that matter that it will not be said of me, "Where were you when your mates were prospering?"

 Photo Credit: Google Images

Shalom.

P.S- I apologise for my loooong silence. I have been (still I'm) on this journey of self discovery and actualisation, therefore I needed some time to refocus and re-strategize. Seeing that I bring you stuff that hopefully inspires you, I wanted to make sure that I also practised what I preached. I hope I am forgiven. Lol