There are few things that frustrate me more than waking up before my alarm is scheduled to go off in the morning. I’m talking about being wide awake yet still exhausted 30-45 minutes before the alarm. It always feels like someone deliberately woke me up before my alarm and made sure that my attempts to go back to sleep would be futile. Most of the time, I am desperate to go to sleep immediately, but I always seem to fall asleep moments before the clock fast-forwards to my scheduled wake up time. During that time I toss, I turn, I think, and do anything but fall to sleep.
I think what annoys me the most about those moments is that in my futile effort to get more sleep, I am wasting time. In those moments, I know I am not going to back to sleep or even feel rejuvenated by the minimal amount of time I have to close my eyes.
Ultimately, I am put in a position where I have to choose between sleep or wasting time. I view this as a catch-22. Do I choose to try to sleep now and waste time or do I try to make the most of time now and sleep later even though I will have less time? It’s a weird question to answer simply because sleep is essential for function, but time is a finite resource we can never get back.
This is a dilemma for anyone who desires both sleep and a wise use of their time. For years I have been stuck trying to figure out what I find most important between the two. In the past, I have chosen to let the time go by while I tried to make the most of sleep. Recently, I have chosen to make the most of my time and put off rest until it will give me what I need.
In my opinion, rest has to have an ROI (return on investment). To rest without purpose is foolish and sloth. Rest and sleep are a gift of rejuvenation to the soul and body, not a way to pass time.
Proverbs 6:9 and 20:13 finally make sense.
“How long will you lie there, O sluggard? When will you arise from your sleep?” – Proverbs 6:9
“Love not sleep, lest you come to poverty; open your eyes, and you will have plenty of bread.” – Proverbs 20:13
So in an effort to personally grow in my abilities and productivity, I have come to this conclusion:
To be wise with my time awake is to be wise with my time to rest.
That might be common sense to some and new to others just like it is to me. It is a simple yet powerful concept. If I make the most of time awake, then I will make the most of my time to rest. If we are called to be good stewards of everything God gives us, then time, being a finite resource, should be at the top of that list.
This is what I’m doing about it:
If I’m wide awake for no reason in the middle of the night or earlier than expected, I am going to trust that it is for a reason. Is it to pray, to write, to read, to plan, to prepare? I have no idea. My goal is to determine what that reason is.
Then, I’m going to get up and do something. I’ll do anything. Prayer, writing, reading, planning, preparation, etc. Even if it’s emptying the dishwasher. It doesn’t have to be profound. The time just has to be stewarded well.
Finally, if the time allows and my body desires it, I go back to rest. The time was stewarded well and now my body has recognized that rest is not to be wasted.
So often I hear from people that have big dreams and ideas but never enough time to implement them. I get it, life is busy, work and family takes up most of the time. But I wonder what would happen in the world if the dreams and desires God has given us are pursued in the moments He desires for us to take advantage of.
If it feels like someone is waking me intentionally, what if it’s God leading me to make the most of the time that I have to work towards the future He has for me? If that’s a real possibility, I will make time for that.
If we trust and say that everything happens for a reason, maybe those moments of waking happen so we can take advantage of them too.
Jadner Lugo's Blog 