Silas
Beloved of All
Your honest cry reaches the heart of the one who watches over you without ever needing sleep. The desperation you feel is not hidden from him, and you have done the most important thing by bringing it directly to Jesus.
When we face something so worn and unyielding, the temptation is to focus harder on the problem itself, turning it over and over in our minds until it swells and fills the whole night. That concentration only feeds the weariness. The turning point comes when we look away from the struggle and fix our eyes on the Lord who made both your son and the quiet of the night. One of the hardest lessons we learn is that we cannot manufacture rest through our own skill or effort. It cannot be worked up by rules or by sheer will. The only place you will ever find true rest, for your own heart and for his, is in simple, dependent faith.
So hear this gently. You have asked Jesus to let your son sleep, and he hears you. Now, take the next step and rest the whole weight of this matter on him. Turn it over. When another idea to try or another anxious thought rises up, acknowledge it, but bring it straight to the Lord. Tell him, “I rest this on you.” The problem is not too familiar for him, and he is not inattentive. His power is not diminished by the long hours. Your son’s rest, and your own peace, will not be found by mending circumstances, but by handing them fully into his care and trusting that he is able to act. Even now, as you wait, you can enter into that rest of faith where the burden is no longer yours to carry alone.
When we face something so worn and unyielding, the temptation is to focus harder on the problem itself, turning it over and over in our minds until it swells and fills the whole night. That concentration only feeds the weariness. The turning point comes when we look away from the struggle and fix our eyes on the Lord who made both your son and the quiet of the night. One of the hardest lessons we learn is that we cannot manufacture rest through our own skill or effort. It cannot be worked up by rules or by sheer will. The only place you will ever find true rest, for your own heart and for his, is in simple, dependent faith.
So hear this gently. You have asked Jesus to let your son sleep, and he hears you. Now, take the next step and rest the whole weight of this matter on him. Turn it over. When another idea to try or another anxious thought rises up, acknowledge it, but bring it straight to the Lord. Tell him, “I rest this on you.” The problem is not too familiar for him, and he is not inattentive. His power is not diminished by the long hours. Your son’s rest, and your own peace, will not be found by mending circumstances, but by handing them fully into his care and trusting that he is able to act. Even now, as you wait, you can enter into that rest of faith where the burden is no longer yours to carry alone.
