By Greg Chandler
Zeeland Record
As I have gotten older, I realize that the youthful energy I once had doesn’t last as long as it used to.
To quote my late grandmother, “my get-up-and-go got up and went.”
Some days, by early afternoon, I find myself yearning to take a nap. I confess that I start to doze sometimes. Given the nature of my job, it’s kind of hard to pause for a few minutes of snooze time.
However, there is one day of the week where I usually make time for a nap: Sunday. For Christians, it’s our Sabbath. It’s to remember that after God created the heavens and the earth and all living things in six days, he rested on the seventh day and enjoyed the creation He had made.
I believe that napping can be a spiritual discipline – one that can help you recharge your mental and physical batteries as well as your relationship with God.
There are a couple of stories from Scripture that I believe back up my point. The first is from 1 Kings 19, where we pick up the story of Elijah. Most of you will remember Elijah engaged in a spiritual showdown with the 450 prophets of Baal as to who the real God was – how Elijah poured gallons upon gallons of water on his sacrifice, in the midst of a drought, no less – and then God sent fire to burn up the sacrifice. And then Elijah had the prophets of Baal seized and executed.
After that, Queen Jezebel, greatly angered by what had happened, decided to put a contract out on Elijah’s head. Elijah became frightened and beat a hasty exit out of town. At Beersheba in Judah, he told his servant, “Go home. I’m going to keep going.” So he went another day’s journey into the wilderness, found a broom tree, sat down under it and said to God, “I’m out. Let me die. I am no better than my ancestors.” (19:4)
And then Elijah crashed. It’s not known how long he slept.
But in 19:5, we see while Elijah was off in the land of Nod, God showed up for him – providing bread baked over hot coals and a jar of water. Elijah ate and drank, then lay down again. The angel came back a second time and told him “You need more carbs and hydration for the trip.” So he ate and drank, giving him the strength to travel 40 days to Horeb, the mountain of God, where he hid in a cave.
Of course, we then read that Elijah pleads his case to God that he is the only faithful prophet remaining and that Jezebel wants to erase him from existence. God tells Elijah to stand on the mountain, “for the Lord is about to pass by.” (19:11) The prophet experiences a mighty wind, an earthquake and a fire – but God wasn’t in any of them. Instead, the Almighty shows up in a still small voice, a gentle whisper.
God then gives Elijah instructions and a reality check – that there were 7,000 Israelites that had not bowed a knee to Baal and whose mouths had not kissed him. (19:18). Elijah is told to appoint kings over various provinces to execute justice.
I believe God used Elijah’s nap to restore the prophet’s relationship with Him, and to remind him that God wasn’t done with him by any stretch of the imagination.
Then in the Gospel accounts of Matthew, Mark and Luke, we read about how Jesus took a nap as a severe thunderstorm broke out over the lake while his disciples were in the boat. (He probably didn’t consult The Weather Channel radar before taking his snooze.)
I’m guessing He was tired from all the parables he had just taught, such as those involving the sower of the seeds and the lamp on a stand. (Mark 4, Luke 8)
As lightning flashed, thunder roared and winds kicked up to the point where the waves were threatening to capsize the boat, the disciples woke up Jesus – I have to imagine he was pretty groggy at that point – and asked, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?”
(Mark 8:38)
If I put myself in that story, on that boat, I’m pretty much freaking out (I don’t do well in storms) and thinking the same thing the disciples are.
Jesus gets up and tells the winds and waves “Quiet! Be still!” And just like that, the skies clear, the wind ceases and the lake becomes calm. And the disciples stand there, stunned by what they’ve just seen. I like how the King James Version of the Bible describes their reaction: “What manner of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him!” (Matthew 8:27, Mark 4:41, Luke 8:25)
While there aren’t other accounts from the Gospels of Jesus taking a nap, I have to believe as a fully human person in addition to being God’s fully divine Son, Jesus believed in the value of rest. I believe he needed it as part of maintaining his connection to His Heavenly Father.
Author Bob Goff put his belief about rest very succinctly: “Rest is holy. Get some.”
I believe in the spiritual value of naps, as an act of rebellion against the culture that tells us we are what we produce, that blessed are those who hustle and grind. I don’t think it’s an accident that we are human “beings,” not human “doings.”
Work hard, yes. But take time to rest. You want to remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy? Consider taking a nap.
God rested. You should too.
Zeeland Record
As I have gotten older, I realize that the youthful energy I once had doesn’t last as long as it used to.
To quote my late grandmother, “my get-up-and-go got up and went.”
Some days, by early afternoon, I find myself yearning to take a nap. I confess that I start to doze sometimes. Given the nature of my job, it’s kind of hard to pause for a few minutes of snooze time.
However, there is one day of the week where I usually make time for a nap: Sunday. For Christians, it’s our Sabbath. It’s to remember that after God created the heavens and the earth and all living things in six days, he rested on the seventh day and enjoyed the creation He had made.
I believe that napping can be a spiritual discipline – one that can help you recharge your mental and physical batteries as well as your relationship with God.
There are a couple of stories from Scripture that I believe back up my point. The first is from 1 Kings 19, where we pick up the story of Elijah. Most of you will remember Elijah engaged in a spiritual showdown with the 450 prophets of Baal as to who the real God was – how Elijah poured gallons upon gallons of water on his sacrifice, in the midst of a drought, no less – and then God sent fire to burn up the sacrifice. And then Elijah had the prophets of Baal seized and executed.
After that, Queen Jezebel, greatly angered by what had happened, decided to put a contract out on Elijah’s head. Elijah became frightened and beat a hasty exit out of town. At Beersheba in Judah, he told his servant, “Go home. I’m going to keep going.” So he went another day’s journey into the wilderness, found a broom tree, sat down under it and said to God, “I’m out. Let me die. I am no better than my ancestors.” (19:4)
And then Elijah crashed. It’s not known how long he slept.
But in 19:5, we see while Elijah was off in the land of Nod, God showed up for him – providing bread baked over hot coals and a jar of water. Elijah ate and drank, then lay down again. The angel came back a second time and told him “You need more carbs and hydration for the trip.” So he ate and drank, giving him the strength to travel 40 days to Horeb, the mountain of God, where he hid in a cave.
Of course, we then read that Elijah pleads his case to God that he is the only faithful prophet remaining and that Jezebel wants to erase him from existence. God tells Elijah to stand on the mountain, “for the Lord is about to pass by.” (19:11) The prophet experiences a mighty wind, an earthquake and a fire – but God wasn’t in any of them. Instead, the Almighty shows up in a still small voice, a gentle whisper.
God then gives Elijah instructions and a reality check – that there were 7,000 Israelites that had not bowed a knee to Baal and whose mouths had not kissed him. (19:18). Elijah is told to appoint kings over various provinces to execute justice.
I believe God used Elijah’s nap to restore the prophet’s relationship with Him, and to remind him that God wasn’t done with him by any stretch of the imagination.
Then in the Gospel accounts of Matthew, Mark and Luke, we read about how Jesus took a nap as a severe thunderstorm broke out over the lake while his disciples were in the boat. (He probably didn’t consult The Weather Channel radar before taking his snooze.)
I’m guessing He was tired from all the parables he had just taught, such as those involving the sower of the seeds and the lamp on a stand. (Mark 4, Luke 8)
As lightning flashed, thunder roared and winds kicked up to the point where the waves were threatening to capsize the boat, the disciples woke up Jesus – I have to imagine he was pretty groggy at that point – and asked, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?”
(Mark 8:38)
If I put myself in that story, on that boat, I’m pretty much freaking out (I don’t do well in storms) and thinking the same thing the disciples are.
Jesus gets up and tells the winds and waves “Quiet! Be still!” And just like that, the skies clear, the wind ceases and the lake becomes calm. And the disciples stand there, stunned by what they’ve just seen. I like how the King James Version of the Bible describes their reaction: “What manner of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him!” (Matthew 8:27, Mark 4:41, Luke 8:25)
While there aren’t other accounts from the Gospels of Jesus taking a nap, I have to believe as a fully human person in addition to being God’s fully divine Son, Jesus believed in the value of rest. I believe he needed it as part of maintaining his connection to His Heavenly Father.
Author Bob Goff put his belief about rest very succinctly: “Rest is holy. Get some.”
I believe in the spiritual value of naps, as an act of rebellion against the culture that tells us we are what we produce, that blessed are those who hustle and grind. I don’t think it’s an accident that we are human “beings,” not human “doings.”
Work hard, yes. But take time to rest. You want to remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy? Consider taking a nap.
God rested. You should too.
