What keeps you awake at night?

“He gives his beloved sleep.”  Psalm 127:2

What keeps you awake at night?  The answer to that question could be a key to unlocking a new found freedom in your life.  It gets to the very heart of where you struggle the most in trusting God.  Carefully considering that question is like taking a diagnostic test, it reveals your growing edge of faith.

I recently spent an evening doing an informal survey of as many websites as I could find that provided lists and discussions addressing that insomnia related question.  The following list of twelve categories is a compilation and condensation of all the things people admitted were keeping them awake.  For simplicity’s sake I have not included dietary (food and caffeine) or medical reasons for sleeplessness. 

As you read through the list, which ones can you admit are things that keep you awake? 

#1 – Loneliness & Lack of Advocacy – wanting to belong and have someone as an advocate on our behalf.  Concerns about belonging, victimization and/or identity.

#2 – Mortality & Eternal Destiny – grappling with fear of death and end of life issues.  One young woman wrote: “Oh God. I AM GOING TO DIE.  I know It will be in like, 80 years, but mortality still freaks me out.”

#3 – Success & Reputation – Concern for our success & resultant rputation in the things we undertake

#4 – Career & Job Satisfaction – dealing with pressures. dissatisfaction and frustrations of work.

#5 – Important Decisions – The cry for wisdom in problem solving and making right decisions

#6 – Creativity & Pursuit of a Dream – Preoccupation with the anticipation, planning and/or implementation of a dream goal.

#7 – Financial Insecurity – worry about money, paying the bills, budgets, funding future dreams and retirement.

#8 – Regret & Guilt – Remorse over past mistakes, failures and weaknesses; even questioning “Am I doing enough?”

#9 – Relationship Conflict – preoccupation with the spiritual, emotional and physical consequences associated with unresolved conflicts. 

#10 – Addictive and Self-destructive behavior – longing for a change and freedom from addictions and bad habits.

#11 – Fear and anxiety about the future – dealing with losses, real and imagined, related to health, security and the well-being of ourselves and the ones we love.

#12 – Global Crisis Concerns – worry about the state and destiny of the world including such things as the economy, poverty, violence, disease, corruption, the environment, and war etc.

Now that you have identified the specific cause(s) of your loss of sleep, what should you do about it?  How do you take that doubt or fear and turn it into faith?  How do you use that knowledge to unlock a new found freedom in your life and get some sleep?

Stay tuned for the next post in which I will share an amazing discovery that I made.  God has a very comprehensive, yet simple answer for all these troubling concerns.

Is there anything that I missed?  If so feel free to add to the list.

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