“So then let us not sleep, as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober.” 1Thessalonians 5:6 ESV
The sun was beginning to ease its way through the cloud-covered night sky, and my eyelids were heavy. Having drawn the short straw, I had been driving for several dark hours, and weariness had set in. My three college companions were all soundly asleep.
Nashville was beginning to wake up, and commuter traffic grew heavier and speedier as eager workers headed into the big city. Locals were comfortable with the narrow, curving highway lanes of the Great Smoky Mountains; I was not.
I was losing the battle with my eyelids, which desperately wanted to close. Even with my growing fears of falling asleep at the wheel and killing all four of us in the rush hour traffic, I could not keep my eyes open. I turned the air vent on my face. I rolled the window down enough to blast me with cold winter air. I tried holding my left foot aloft to keep myself awake. Nothing worked. I would drift off, then jerk awake seconds later.
Finally, I began to panic and woke up one of my fellow travelers – “Talk to me! I can’t stay awake!” That woke her up, and she began talking—loud and long enough to keep me awake until I reached an exit where I could pull over and surrender the steering wheel.
Falling asleep at inopportune times has always been a problem for me. Early in our marriage, I drove every day from the suburbs into downtown Dallas on an overcrowded, always-crawling highway system. The stop-and-stop-and-finally-go pace lulled me to sleep. I was frequently rudely awakened by the driver behind me honking to let me know that traffic was moving again.
Later, I learned to appreciate rumble strips—rumble strips are our friends! On numerous occasions, I was awakened by the rumble of rumble strips, warning me I was heading toward the highway ditch during early-morning drives from the Detroit area to one of my field offices on the west side of Michigan.
Physically falling asleep at inopportune times can be embarrassing. I remember sitting in church as a child between my grandmother, my two aunts, and my dad (my mom was always in the choir). All four would fall asleep during the sermon, and all four snored—not terribly loud, just enough to let people know they were still breathing. I thought it was funny, but when I elbowed whoever was closest to me, I could tell they were embarrassed.
Yes, poorly timed sleep may be embarrassing, but it can also be deadly.
Scripture provides vivid examples of hazardous sleep habits:
- A drunken sleep placed Noah in a vulnerable state. Noah’s youngest son, Ham, walked into his father’s tent and saw his father lying naked on his bed. Instead of respectfully covering his father in his tent and leaving quickly, Ham humiliated and disrespected his father by telling his brothers what he had seen (Genesis 9:20-25).
- Samson fell asleep in the arms of a sultry deciever after revealing the source of his strength. When he awoke, his hair was gone, and so was his strength. The Spirit of God was no longer with him. Blinded and taken captive by his enemy, Samson, the mighty judge of Israel, became a slave of the Philistines (Judges 16).
- Saul, King of Israel, was left unprotected and defenseless when he and his guards all fell asleep at their campsite one night during their pursuit of God’s chosen man, David. The King and his men survived the night only because David refused to raise his hand against the King of Israel (1 Samuel 26:12).
- When the Apostle Paul’s sermon ran long, a young man named Eutychus, who was seated on the ledge of an open window in an upper room, sank into a deep sleep and fell to his death. Miraculously, the Holy Spirit used the Apostle Paul to return life to the young man. (Acts 20:7-12).
Ill-timed physical sleep is hazardous, but it becomes far more perilous when a spiritual element is involved, as there is in each of the examples above. A final example demonstrates most dramatically the risks of spiritual sleep.
After the disciples’ final supper with their Master, Jesus led them to the Garden of Gethsemane for a time of prayer and strengthening. Jesus knew his betrayal was underway. He wanted to prepare Himself, and He wanted His disciples to pray for faithfulness and strength in the hours and days ahead.
In the Garden, Jesus, knowing that Peter would soon be under direct attack, interceded on behalf of Peter and all His disciples, asking God to protect and uphold them. And He instructed them to pray as well.
“Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” Matthew 26:41 ESV
But instead of praying for the strength of God to withstand the trials of the days ahead, Peter and the other disciples fell asleep as Jesus prayed.
Earlier in the evening, Jesus had warned Peter: “Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat, but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.” Luke 22:31-32 ESV
All of the disciples should have been deep in prayer in the Garden—praying for their Master, and for themselves.
Especially Peter. Jesus told Peter directly that Satan was targeting him for attack. Instead, all of the disciples, including Peter, fell asleep in the Garden, while Jesus prayed until he sweated “great drops of blood falling down to the ground” (Luke 22:44).
Jesus gave the disciples three opportunities to pray in the Garden, and each time, after His own prayers, Jesus returned to find them sleeping.
We know the end of this story. When the temple guards came to arrest Christ, all his disciples fled, deserting their Master. Peter then snuck into the Temple courtyard, only to deny his Lord three times.
No doubt Peter had bitter memories of the evening: Three opportunities to pray for strength in time of temptation. Three times Peter fell asleep. Three times Peter denied his Master.
Timely physical sleep is good and necessary. But untimely sleep can be dangerous. Spiritual sleep is most destructive.
When temptations and trials come, will you be ready to stand firm in your faith and hold fast to God?
When Christ returns, will he find you ready? Will He find the work He has given you completed? Or will He find you asleep at the wheel?
“Therefore, stay awake, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming.” (Matthew 24:42 ESV)
“Be on guard, keep awake. For you do not know when the time will come.” (Mark 13:33 ESV)
“But stay awake at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that are going to take place, and to stand before the Son of Man.” (Luke 21:36 ESV)
“Behold, I am coming like a thief! Blessed is the one who stays awake.” Revelation 16:15 ESV