I Sleep But My Heart Is Awake

This is the Truth Network. I love that from the Song of Solomon. The principle from the Bible concerning what constitutes the day begins in the darkness. It begins in the evening, and then there's morning. The two together, beginning with darkness, progressing to light, becomes the day. We know from Genesis chapter 1, beginning in verse 5, and the evening and the morning were the first day. So night and day, again from a Bible standpoint, constitutes what we think of as day. The darkness is divided from the light by the morning light, and from there we can just go, as the psalmist did, praising, thanking God for the tender mercy that comes to us again fresh in the morning. Listen, welcome to our podcast.

My name is Shirley Weaver. We are so thrilled about the way we are seeing God download His goodness in this amazing time of revival across our nation, throughout the world. This awakening that is taking place, I've said before, I'll say it again, I don't think it will stop. I think, hey, as we say, it's on, but getting back to our point, you know, the Lord is intervening in the lives of His people, even those who do not yet know Him.

He wants to intervene in your life. I love what the Shulamite says to her beloved in the Song of Solomon chapter 5 verse 2, I sleep but my heart is awake. I sleep but my heart is awake. So for those of you who struggle with sleep, who struggle to deal with the torment that sometimes comes in the night, listen, God has a better plan. His plan for you is peace.

His plan for you is praise. And as Isaiah penned, with my soul I have desired you in the night. Yes, by my spirit within me, I will seek you early.

You see this, you see this positioning again. I'm desiring you in the night, Father. I'm desiring you in the night. Yes, by my spirit within me, I will seek you early. See, it speaks to the reference that we have as born-again believers that the Spirit on the inside of us is stronger than anything. As the light overcomes the darkness, as the morning overtakes the night, so the Spirit of God on the inside of you surpasses and prevails over anything attempting to take you captive in the night season to disrupt your sleep, to bring you an absence of peace, and everything that goes with it. And so Isaiah said, with my soul I have desired you in the night, but by my spirit I will seek you early.

Can you see that distinction there? There is a place in the night season that you and I are to guard, and that we can get into a whole teaching on that, the things that you allow to enter your heart before it's time for you to rest your body in the night, those kinds of things. But night and day, bringing the mercy of the Lord in the morning fresh, freshly, is our emphasis. Lamentations 3, 22, through the Lord's mercies we are not consumed because his compassions fail not.

They are new every morning. Verse 23, they are new every morning. Through the Lord's mercies we are not consumed. The Lord revealed himself really in his omnipotence to Job in chapter 38, specifically 12.

I love this wording here. You know, God is interviewing Job and laying out for him his omnipotent power. God's omnipotent power, God is laying that out for him, and he says to Job, Have you commanded the morning, since your days began, and caused the dawn to know its place, that it, the dawn, might take hold of the ends of the earth and the wicked be shaken out of it? That is powerful. It's not only powerful, it's poetic.

It gives you an extreme peek into exactly how powerful God's unlimited power is in bringing about your peace in any setting. It says here in Job 38, I'm just looking, this is, it gets, it continues. The dawn takes away from the wicked its light. From the wicked their light is withheld, and the upraised arm is broken. And just for, just a little more emphasis, another notable reference here, two identical verses almost, Psalm 57-8, Psalm 108-2, where the psalmist uses these words, Awake, my glory, awake, loot, and harp. In other words, wake up, instruments. Hey, instruments of God's glory, wake up. I will awaken the dawn, and the implication is with my praise. I will awaken the dawn. Wake up my glory, like your personal glory. You wake that up with your praise. You wake that up in the morning. Faith has a benchmark right now, these end times, that brings peace of heart and mind.

That is your benchmark. That is your hallmark. It has been said that the greatest end time sign upon the life of the believer will be God's peace. That means that for each night season and for each morning, believers are empowered to choose.

You can choose continual peace. That's a treasure that you mind. You mind, you excavate that treasure, you take it, you possess it, and you declare the mercy of the Lord and his compassion for you. Because again, his compassion, his mercies are new every morning. That means a fresh start every morning. When God punctuates the darkness of night with his unfolding light, and that's what Isaiah spoke to, he emphasized, with my soul I have desired you in the night. Yes, by my spirit within me I seek you early. So God is commanding. He's commanding the morning to take hold of the earth, which is a direct benefit for those of us who are covenant-minded, and we are offered this power. We are offered this same authority to take command and to take over stewardship of the new day, possibilities where God will reveal his heart, that your heart is awake. I sleep, but my heart is awake. So you go to bed at night with all of this expectation within you. Therefore, torment and an absence of peace or anything digging at your soul, in your mind, in your intellect, in your emotions, it just cannot take over. As you anticipate the dawn of a new day, all that's going to come with it is a package deal.

It's available. You can have it, but your part is to know this truth and to possess it, to say, yes, I agree with God's Word, I agree with his heart for me, and I say with the Shulamite, I sleep, but my heart is very much awake as I anticipate the morning and joining in with the Lord to wake up the day, you know, the light of day, to wake up the dawn, to do it with my praise, with my expectation, with my longing to see what is going to happen as the Lord lays it out, his supernatural abundance, this exercise of God's communion with you as his son, his daughter, and all that is stored up for the day. So if you're listening to this at night, get ready. You are about to step into a powerful display as the day dawns. And if you're listening in the daytime, exercise your stewardship, take hold along with him, your joiner with him, you participate with him, take hold and govern the day. Powerful. So powerful.

It's God's plan. Thanks for listening. If you enjoyed this episode and you'd like to help support this podcast, please share it with others. Post about it on social media or leave a rating and review. Don't forget to check out the show notes or visit acleartrumpet.org where you can subscribe to Shirley's email list. Download the ministry app and purchase your very own copy of Shirley's 365 day devotional, Running with Horses. Thanks again and we'll see you next time. Thank you.