Mark 6:41-44 – Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, [Jesus] gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then he gave them to his disciples to set before the people. He also divided the two fish among them all. They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces of bread and fish. The number of the men who had eaten was five thousand. (NIV)

I had often read and been told that as we get older, we need less sleep. I did not find this to be true. What I did discover is that though I was sleeping less, I was no less tired. And when I am tired, I struggle with feeling cross, crabby, and discouraged, especially when I am lying in bed hour after hour unable to sleep, knowing that morning will soon arrive and it will be time to get up and go to work, exhausted once again.

Such times of sleeplessness, I have also learned, come and go in cycles. The majority of my aging friends confide that they, too, struggle with this issue, and the doctor says that there really isn't much to be done about it other than to accept that it is part of the aging process and to try and catnap as time allows.

Anyway, one morning as I crept from my bed after another night of minimum sleep, I began grumbling in earnest to God about the situation and how unfair it was. You know I have to get up and go to work, and yet how am I supposed to do all I need to do, and do a good job of it, when I am so tired yet again? And that was when that still, small voice whispered these words within my mind: Remember the loaves and fishes and look up to heaven and give thanks.

And so, that is what I began to do and continue to do. I thank God for the sleep I have received, no matter how minimal, and that it will be sufficient for the tasks at hand. And much to my amazement, it always is. In fact, I usually have not only enough energy for what must be done, but also energy left over for the things that I really want to do, without feeling cross, crabby, and discouraged from lack of sleep.

So today, if you are struggling with a lack: lack of sleep, talent, money, wisdom, in fact, a lack of anything, remember the loaves and fishes, and look up to heaven, and give thanks for what you do have, and then, be prepared to see how God blesses it.

Prayer: Father God, thank You that even the smallest offering that we lift up to You becomes more than enough in Your hands. Bless us this day with faith to offer and receive. In Christ's name, we pray. Amen.

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About the author:

Lynne Phipps <lynnephippsatlin@gmail.com>
Tawatinaw, Alberta, Canada
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