Minds That Can't Sleep - All Our Daily Bread Daily Devotionals for 2025

Bible in a Year : Ecclesiastes 4-6, 2 Corinthians 12

[God] grants sleep to those he loves.
Psalm 127:2

Today's Scripture & Insight : Psalm 127:1-2

“When I have to be in control, then sleep is terrifying,” admits John Hindley in Weakness Our Strength, “[so] no wonder anxiety keeps us awake or sets us bolt upright at 4 a.m.” Such sleeplessness is only increasing, with forty-seven percent of the UK having disturbed nights every week. Anxiety, finances and work-related stresses are key culprits.

“What sort of God would create us to need such a wasteful, unproductive, useless weakness as sleep?” asks John. “Maybe a God who loves us too much to let us think we are in control,” he concludes.

The psalmist agrees: “[God] grants sleep to those he loves” (Psalm 127:2). Of course, God still loves us if we struggle to fall asleep. But sleeplessness might be a sign that we haven’t taken hold of the Psalm’s opening promises: “Unless the Lord builds the house, the builders labour in vain. Unless the Lord watches over the city, the guards stand watch in vain” (v. 1). Our lives are not dependent on our abilities or wisdom, but on Him, the One who is always at work, even when we sleep.

“We can go to bed because, ultimately, the buck doesn’t stop with us,” John explains. God can carry all our worries. Let’s hand each one to Him before we sleep tonight. For sleep is His gift to us, a promise that we can rest because He’s in control and He never slumbers (Psalm 121:3-4).

By: Chris Wale

Reflect & Pray
What keeps you up at night? How can you develop the practice of handing your fears and anxieties to God before you settle to sleep?

Heavenly Father, please bring peace and calm into my mind at night. May I sleep soundly, knowing my life is held securely in Your hands.