Have you mothers out there noticed that we frequently do not get enough sleep? I seem to be doing “just one more thing” before I fall into bed every evening, although we Chapman’s retire to bed MUCH earlier than any of our friends. But many nights, I do not get a good night’s sleep. Last week, Blaine vomited in his bed, so I moved him into ours as I stripped the sheets and threw them into the washer, praying a word of thanks that I DID stay up 15 minutes longer to fold the clothes in the dryer, & throw the wet clothes in the dryer from the washer. And so my LORD provided an empty washing machine into which I could throw those foul smelling sheets. Mike was out of town for a training school, so I was on my own. When I finished spraying Lysol on Blaine’s bed, I scooted into our bedroom just in time to hear more gurgling and another round of vomit in MY bed…YUK. So I put Blaine on the couch (with two thick towels under his upper body), and stripped my bed, threw the mess into the washer, poured in the Tide, flipped the switch, and hurried back to our bedroom to spray the bed, wipe it down, and put fresh sheets on it.
Do I have to tell you that when I lay down with my sick boy a few minutes later, I was praying for strength, patience, and peace? I often ask the Father to grant me physical energy to get through the next day, and to somehow multiply my rest. And He always sustains me! Even when I have to work a 12 hour shift the next night, and I don’t get a minute’s nap the day before.
Sometimes other factors drain my energy, such as the tribulations of daily living that the apostle John spoke of in John 16:33 (my devotional reading for today). “These things I have spoken unto you, that IN ME you might have Peace. In the world you will have Tribulation, but be of good cheer, for I have Overcome the world.” I love the Words of Jesus Christ. They truly are alive and powerful today! I often pray for perfect Peace, the kind that is inexplicable. The kind that comes in the midst of vomiting and flat tires, burnt dinner and pre-cancerous skin patches. Jesus gives us His Perfect peace. No other kind of Peace is even worth pursuing. Remember, He is the Prince of Peace! We are Overcomers when we bring Jesus into our hearts and Lives. All we have to do is Believe in HIM, and Trust HIM as our LORD and Savior! My prayer today is that the Lord Jesus Christ will give me His Peace, and fill me with His all-sustaining rest!