Rest? Who Needs It?
October 13, 2009 by Tara McClenahan
Apparently, this is a week for personal confessions! So today, I confess that I only get about 6 hours of sleep per night. That has been the norm for about six months and I thought I was functioning just fine, thank you! Until……
The Wake-Up Call
My wake-up call came in the form of a near black-out while driving 65-mph down the interstate during Friday evening rush hour with my singing two-year-old in the backseat. If I didn’t believe that God has me under the shadow of His wing, I certainly do now! Miraculously, I was able to pull off to the side of the ride and slowly exit the interstate. I was in a state of confusion from the “episode” and near panic with the thought that we would be on the side of the road with me unconscious and my son in the backseat and no one would know.
The Diagnosis
Fast forward three weeks and I have undergone multiple tests including rounds of blood work, EKG, EEG, chest X-ray and MRI which have all been normal. Of course they were! Nothing can be simple where I am concerned! And in the meantime, I had a repeat “episode” this past Sunday morning at 4:30 AM!! I followed up with the neurologist who is convinced that these episodes are related to the quality of my sleep as well as the quantity. Apparently my brain is sending strong signals that all is not well in Tara-land and that it is not getting the rest it needs to function normally.
So what?
We’ve all heard it said that we need our rest. This is usually referring to physical rest and I can certainly attest to the truth of that statement. But what about spiritual rest? When was the last time you took the time to simply rest in God? I know the phrase “Quiet Time” has the connotation of rest but when we do quiet time, we are “doing” quiet time. We are reading, journaling, studying, praying, worshipping, etc. What about rest?
How do we do that?
28 Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.” – Matthew 11:28 NLT
Jesus says, “Come to me and I will give you rest.” We won’t find rest by sending up a prayer now and then as we go about our busy day (although there isn’t anything wrong with that). I seriously doubt God will chase us down to put His light and easy burden on us. No, in fact, He says, “Come to me.” Going to Jesus means we have to stop what we are doing, hand over our burdens and busyness, and sit still. Not forever but long enough to actually get the rest that our spirit needs. It may be difficult at first to just sit and relax in His presence without DOING something. I know it isn’t easy. But for your spiritual health, it is a necessity.
You don’t want a spiritual blackout, do you?
Oh Tara, this is such a great reminder. I get caught up in the busyness of life SO easily. Thank you for your words.
I don’t know Tara, I think I would be getting some other doctors opinions. Blackouts are NOT common. I don’t care how much sleep you have lost. Sounds to me like your docs don’t know what is wrong so they just blame it on the easiest target. Have you been to wrongdiagnosis.com? It’s a wonderful forum where people have had a myriad of issues and have all come there to help each other find the true diagnosis. Take your healthcare into your own hands and if your gut is telling you that something deeper is wrong then do not stop until you find out the truth. I am speaking from experience. Blessings.
I also need to focus on more rest – physically and spiritually. Thank you for the reminder!
Tara, thanks for this personal post. I agree with Traci and think you need to get some other opinions! I hope things get betterr with rest but be prepared to fight to find out what is wrong!
Take care of yourself!