Finding Rest When You Can’t Sleep with Betsy Childs Howard
Today, we’re chatting with Betsy Childs Howard about a theme we are all familiar with—waiting—specifically waiting for sleep. No matter our season, we have all likely faced the challenges that come from seasons of exhaustion. You’re not going to want to miss the practical and gospel encouragement in this episode!
Time Stamps from the Conversation
3:20 — Waiting for Sleep in Weary Seasons
8:15 — Why God Created Us with a Need for Rest
15:05 — Trusting God When Physical Rest Isn’t Available
21:25 — Meeting God in the Middle of the Night
27:40 — Finding Our Ultimate Rest in Christ
NOTES & QUOTES
“God wants me to come to him every day for what I need. And I can't come to him for tomorrow's grace because he hasn't given me that yet. The waiting presses me on his mercy. I have to lean my weight on his mercy, and I don't know if I'm gonna do that for one more day or for 20 more years, but that's where I wanna be in 21 years, even if he gives me the gift that I'm waiting for.”
“Sometimes it's overcommitment. Sometimes we're exhausted because we have willingly taken on too much. And that's a different kind of thing to reckon with than the exhaustion that comes from God-given responsibilities that we can't just put on the shelf. So there are times where you're exhausted and it's not because of your sin. And I think sometimes we need to hear that, and we shouldn't let feeling like we've somehow put ourselves in this situation keep us from taking that exhaustion to the Lord for his mercy.”
“Our need for sleep, our need for rest teaches us about our limits, and it teaches us that we are not God.”
“Sleep is God’s good plan for us. It is not a weakness to need sleep.”
“Sleeplessness is a product of the fall, but it is also a place where we can know the goodness of God.”
“Sleeplessness is a place to meet God. If you're asking the question, ‘Why am I awake right now?’ Whether it's like, ‘Why is my baby not going to sleep?’ or ‘Why are my eyelids just open even after my baby's gone back to sleep and I need this rest for tomorrow?’ I think the answer to that is you are awake to cry for help and meditate on God's promises.”
“Jesus has purchased our rest for us. Hebrews says, whoever has entered God's rest has also rested from his works as God did from his. So we can rest from having to prove our own righteousness and justify our existence.”
“Sometimes resting in Christ's righteousness allows us to take advantage of some of the earthly rest that we need.”
“Even in sleeplessness, God has given us ultimate rest.” (Hunter Beless)
“We can glorify God by trusting all the things that we can't control and sleeping when possible.”
“We want to be resting in his finished work so that when we rise, we can work heartily from that place of rest.” (Hunter Beless)
“This world is not our home, and we will have ultimate rest in the life to come.”
“The fact that we don't feel completely rested here is a reminder to us that we're not home yet.”
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
What seasons of waiting have you navigated in your own life?
How does knowing that God created us to rest bring you comfort?
What truths or Scriptures that were mentioned did you find encouraging for your particular season of restlessness or sleeplessness?
What habits or rhythms (big or small) bring rest to your soul when you are in a weary or sleepless season?
What might you do or implement based on what you learned in this week’s episode?
RECENT CONVERSATIONS
IMPORTANT NOTE
Journeywomen interviews are intended to serve as a springboard for continued study in the context of your local church. While we carefully select guests each week, interviews do not imply Journeywomen's endorsement of all writings and positions of the interviewee or any other resources mentioned.
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