When You Can’t Sleep

That night the king could not sleep; so he ordered the book of the chronicles, the record of his reign, to be brought in and read to him.

Esther 6:1

3am, 3:30, 3:45—what to do in the middle of the night? Oh how I do not like those wee small hours of no sleep. Up to the bathroom—no, I’ve done that already; toss and turn—maybe it’ll be better on my right side. Perhaps some hot tea. The clock ticks on before my very eyes.

We all have been there at one time or another, just like the king in the royal palace in Susa that night. His solution—to have the chronicles of his reign read to him. That would certainly put me to sleep! Instead, Xerxes was reminded of the previous plot to assassinate him, and of Mordecai, the man who had brought it to light. Then and there he hatched a plan to honor Mordecai.

Into the court comes Haman, the very one who has convinced the king to order the annihilation of all Jews (3:13). The king asks him to honor Mordecai, his arch enemy. Haman is mortified, all the more bent on killing that Jew.

But stay tuned. Even in the dark of the night God has His plans in hand, and can and will put them into play—even through an ungodly king.

 How much better then would it be, that when we (the daughters of the King) are awake in the middle of the night, we fill our empty spaces with the Lord? There are hymns you have tucked away in your mind, Scriptures you know by heart. Or you can try my favorite: an “a-z” of the attributes of God—a-lmighty, b-lessed, c-aring, d-eity…all the way to exc-ellent, Y-ahweh, z-ealous. If necessary, you can begin again at “a”.     

You just never know what will come your way in the light of day that fits into God’s plans. And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose (Romans 8:28).

Nancy P

All Scripture quotations are from the NIV Translation 1973, 1978, 1984, unless otherwise noted