If you’ve ever spent the wee hours in wakefulness, this one is for you.

Yes, you, the one tossing and turning, wishing to sleep, or wishing for the night to be over, longing for morning to come and end this fight for rest…

Join me. I’m awake, too. And so is God.

Typically, I’m blessed with the gift of sleep… but I have had enough times where I’m unable to sleep that I definitely cherish a good night’s rest as a gift.

I’m on a personal journey right now of learning to look for the good in each moment God allows in my life. His will for us is His gift to us, and I am determined to discover the hidden blessing even in the challenges. However, nights of waking up at 1 or 2 am throw a decent curveball into that ambition…

Exciting as it was to stay up late at sleepovers when we were kids, we all know that unwanted wakefulness through the wee hours is no fun.

When your mind is exhausted, the sun is long gone from view, and you stare into the darkness, longing for morning… any problems you have become larger, and you might even start to imagine problems you don’t have.

This is real.

Satan loves to tempt us when we’re alone and exhausted.

Do you dread those night hours? Do you fear the battle, when the hours slip by painstakingly slow, and you can do nothing but endure?

While you’re waiting for the morning to come, rest in these truths.

You are never alone. God never sleeps and He is with you.

Morning will come. It seems to take forever, but every moment, it is closer.

Sleeplessness is a gift.

Wait. What?! Yes, dear friend, you read that correctly. It doesn’t feel like a gift, especially not at 5 am when you’re blogging to pass the time, wondering how to survive the next day that is now alarmingly close…

But God has been faithful to open my eyes since I asked Him to show me the good in all things.

God of the day is very much Present in the long, lonely nights. If you can gather the strength, get up and find a window. Gaze at the stars, and God will feel closer. Experience His greatness.

This has often been my way of getting life back into perspective, but the other night, I couldn’t see the stars when I looked for them. They were hidden completely by clouds… feeling discouraged, “God, why clouds tonight? I needed to see the stars!”

Well, He didn’t change the view in the sky… but I was suddenly impressed by the fact that when those clouds blow away, the stars will still be there. That even in the moments I can’t see them, they are each in their divinely appointed place.

And God whispered to me, that even when clouds of disappointment hide the good in my story, it is there. As He planned it. And when the clouds disappear, I will see it.

That night, I learned more by not seeing the stars than if I had seen them. But I was glad to be comforted by their beauty again tonight.

I used to fear being awake in the night, because of all the ways the enemy tries to get me down.

But realizing that God is also present in the night, always close to me and with me, helps immensely.

So, these hours must have some good use, or God wouldn’t ask me to live through them. No moment in our stories is intended to be wasted time, so what good purpose does God want me to accomplish at 4 am? Well, I have lots of time to think about it, and He did reveal a few good things to me.

When I’m utterly tired, my heart is more open. More ready to listen to Him, too exhausted to hold on to any stubbornness. I’m finding that the Bible speaks to me in deeper, more personal ways in the wee hours than when I am awake, choosing how to apply it.

Prayer is also a closer communion than in the day, because between 12 and 5, there’s just me and God. No schedule to rush off to. No distractions. Just the hours to pass while waiting for the gift of sleep… and meanwhile, enjoying the gift of closeness to God.

We do need physical rest to function, but God has promised to always provide what we need.

I’m learning that His definition of my needs doesn’t always match mine. I want 8 hours of uninterrupted sleep and a clear mind…

He gives me 3 hours and then provides His strength to lean on. Somehow, I make it through the day. He always provides.

God’s ideal level for me to function at also looks different than mine sometimes. I have a life to live, a class to teach, a calendar full of events…

And sometimes, less sleep is what it takes to get me to slow down. To take a rest. Or worse, I’m forced to ask others for help. Admitting when I’m not able to manage everything… that takes great effort and humility.

It turns out, if I can wrestle down the “I’m perfectly fine” attitude and humble myself to accepting the help of others, people are generally more sympathetic than judgemental. God provides those people to be there, because He knows I will need them.

God provides what we need. Not always in the way we imagine, but He Who knows our needs best, can best provide for them.

So, dear friend… look to the skies.

Watch the stars, or if it’s cloudy, rest in the knowledge that they are there. Just as surely as God is with you even though you can’t see Him, and there’s good in this experience though it’s still veiled by clouds.

While you’re waiting for morning, enjoy the gift of communing with God. Your tiredness allows you to be weak enough to surrender to Him.

Less, “why, God? I thought…” And more “okay, God. Your way is best.”

God isn’t forgetting about you, awake in your bed while the world is asleep. He sees. He’s listening to your prayers, and He will speak to you if you listen.

Night can be a very precious time, if we just focus our eyes on God.

And my dear friend, hold on. The sun will rise.