Suggested Scripture Reading: John 3:1 – 21 ( The story of Nicodemus)
Scripture Emphasis:
Romans 8: 10 -16 -The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children.
Psalm 138:18 When I awake, I am still with You.
When you lie awake, and sleep won’t come, and from dark places, all unknown, troubling thoughts creep into your consciousness, is there consolation anywhere to be found? Is there someone out there that can be trusted to bring the soul some relief?
The mind has a strange way of re-examining decisions already made. New scenarios, and compelling suggestions, peppered with the ‘what ifs,’ seem much more logical now. Twilight too soon hastens towards the night, then darkness, all too soon, welcomes the dawn, and the morning safely stores the unresolved dilemma, to be dealt with on yet another night. But the following night fastens to the soul, with hoops of steel, the derelict promise of sleep. A belief in cruel fate moulds the plasticity of the soul into an object of hopelessness. Is there someone out there who can be trusted to bring relief to such a soul? Is it possible to have a light in the window of your soul, that announces that someone is at home, waiting lovingly to provide you with shelter from the storm?
On occasion, the unsettled soul has at its root, troubling dreams that may or may not have rubbed shoulders with some far-off reality, now lost beyond recall. The playwright, William Shakespeare, has one of his characters define us, humans, as ” such stuff as dreams are made of.” But there has to be, for creatures made in their Maker’s Image, something more substantial and abiding than ‘the stuff that dreams are made off.
There is a reality where troubled souls can experience the warming embrace of this“Home.” Troubled Souls are real, so are sleeplessness nights. Therapeutic and calming is the vision of a place of refuge, with a light of welcome burning brightly for very you.
The New Testament relates a story of one restless and troubled soul. Nicodemus had many sleepless nights. He struggled with past decisions, reviewed now in the light of present circumstances and unfolding truths. Nicodemus’ philosophy of life had never before come under strict scrutiny. His beliefs grounded him in those values accepted by his parents and elders in strict obedience to the Jewish faith.
Unexpectedly, everything now begins to change! A new wave of compassion is emerging and beginning to wash over the least, and the lost among them. It is as if a refreshing breeze from Heaven was replacing the stagnant air of earth.
Unlike before, Nicodemus begins to think more and more about Heaven; and to wonder what meaning the pronouncements of the faith has for him. At last, one night, of an unrelenting storm, Nicodemus decides to search for the reason behind the light of Peace and Love he sees in the face of the Nazarene, named Jesus. Nicodemus is feeling a stirring in his soul, a kind of indefinable longing, to own for himself, whatever it is that emanates from Jesus. Jesus gave the appearance of one Who is at HOME within Himself. He exudes absolute surrender to a Presence within himself, Who remains always in complete control.
” Enough of this sleepless torment,” Nicodemus concludes. Hurriedly he dresses and, without a moment’s delay, hurries out into the darkness toward the’ Light,’ away from the far country of confusion and sleeplessness towards ‘ Home.’ Away from self and towards Jesus.
That night Nicodemus makes the most crucial discovery of his life. Sleepless nights are God’s Calling Time.” Our own crowded schedules, vexing problems, self-reliance, and a muddle of misinformation leaves, little or no time, for God to communicate with us. It may well be that sleepness is the touch of God’s hand outstretched caressingly, urging you to accept the light of His Presence. The gift, which no darkness can ever extinguish, will enable you to be at ‘Home’ with yourself because you are now at ‘Home’ with God.
A Prayer To Follow This Meditation
O God, our Father, the touch of whose hand bestows perfect rest and peace at each days ending, grant that I may fall asleep in the full assurance of Your abiding Presence. May no unresolved troubles, unfinished tasks nor sins, real or imagined, cast me on the troubled waters of despair.
Prepare me now, through Your righteousness, to receive grace sufficient for tomorrow’s needs. Grant unto me whatever You see that I need to discharge my responsibility to the world confidently and with mercy, pity, peace, and love.
Keep light, from Your Presence within me, aglow in the window of my soul. Help me to yield to its influence ever that I may be a help to any who are missing the way ‘Home.’
Through Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace. Amen.
Hymn: Now The Day Is Over
EDITORIAL NOTES
- The Scripture references are from the NIV translation. A reading of those
- Scriptures, at the beginning of this meditation, will help your understanding of the meditation, which follows.
- PHOTO is of BRIGUS, NEWFOUNDLAND, taken by Vicki Curtis- Meltzer of Dover, New Hampshire, USA.