Always In His Sight

When Gemma and I were married, we brought different sleeping patterns to our marriage, which I must admit haven’t really changed after twenty years of sharing life together. Although I’ve worked on my sleep pattern and am certainly going to bed earlier than I did when I was single, Gemma still retires for the night before me and gets up before me in the morning.

One night during the early years of our marriage, as usual, I retired for the night after Gemma. She was sleeping peacefully, and as I stood quietly beside our bed listening to her gentle breathing, my heart was moved with love and gratitude for the precious gift that she was and still is to me. I’m not sure how long I stood there listening in the dark, but eventually I also needed to lie down to sleep.

In those moments, standing beside our bed, before I lay down, it seemed that the Lord was speaking to me. He was telling me that He too feels that same love for each one of His children as He gazes upon them while they sleep. But, unlike me, He has no need to slumber or sleep.

We do need to test the thoughts and impressions which come into our minds. I remember pondering my thoughts that night, and wondering whether they really were the Lord speaking, or whether they originated from my own heart and imagination. Could it really be that the almighty, omnipotent Creator of the universe, who made and knows the name of every star and the number of atoms that make them up, would gaze upon me with a heart full of love and listen to my breathing while I slept?

Maybe you are not sure about my thoughts, but I would point you to Psalm 139 from where our verses come today, because it says just that. From our earliest beginning as a fertilised egg in our mother’s womb, through the months hidden away as our frame was formed, through birth and every moment since, He has known and cared for us, waiting for the day when we would come to Him through faith and trust in Jesus to be adopted as His precious sons and daughters.

I realise that for some, reading this Seed, even the mention of God watching us as we sleep can be painful. Maybe you endure nights of wakefulness and worry. The words of Psalm 139 embrace the whole of life and can offer the comfort that we have a Heavenly Father who is there, whether we are awake or asleep, feeling strong or weak, brave or afraid. Perhaps if you have some free moments today, you could read that Psalm and ask Him to minister its truth to you afresh, or even for the first time.