Lent – Day 29

Learn to “Sleep Like a Baby”

Your Daily Lent Devotional

“Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget you! See, I have engraved you on the palms of My hands; your walls are ever before Me.” Isaiah 49:15-16

People often use the phrase “I slept like a baby.” I’ve always found that funny. When my children were babies, they woke up every three hours and cried, which didn’t exactly make for a restful night’s sleep.

But there may be another way to understand this phrase. You see, when babies are awake, they are generally demanding, needy and completely helpless. They are also incredibly fragile, and the world around them is too large for them to grasp, understand or navigate.

Maybe that’s not so different from your everyday experience. The world is too big — it’s too complex, too intense and too mysterious. You’re ultimately out of control. That can make you feel deeply anxious, restless and insecure.

In Psalm 131:1, the author gives you a helpful way forward. He says that he chooses not to “concern myself with matters too great or too awesome for me to grasp.”

He chooses to surrender his proud need to know and control everything around him. Instead, he quiets himself. And what does this feel like?

Picture this image: a sleeping child melted into the safe, protective arms of the one who has already met and will always meet its needs. This is the image of complete peace.

With God, you are like a child in its mother’s arms. In a few hours, you may wake up screaming and demand to have your needs met yet again — and God will be there, ready. This is the image of God the Scriptures present — moment by moment, whenever you feel anxious, restless or insecure, come and surrender your need to know everything and to be in control. He’ll be there to give you the nourishment, comfort and rest you need so you can “sleep like a baby.”

Respond

Go to a quiet place to pray, and hold your palms out in front of you. As you do this, acknowledge every thing or situation in your life that is causing anxiety, restlessness or fear. Tell Jesus how each thing is affecting you. Ask Him for what you need — not what you need Him to make happen, but what you need as you’re going through it. It might be peace, rest, freedom from fear or something else. At the end of this prayer, turn your palms over symbolically, as if you’re dropping something out of your hands and into His. Practice this every day for a week, asking the Holy Spirit to help you release your cares to Him (1 Peter 5:7).