By Deborah Wuehler

I was taking a nap when I heard some noise in the hallway, so I got up to investigate. My eyes were blurry, my head heavy with sleep, but I kept looking around trying to find that noise. I suddenly realized it had been my own snoring I was hearing and that I was not awake but still asleep! I dreamt that I went back to bed until I heard the children talking. I pushed the covers aside and got up and talked to the children until I heard that familiar snore. Once again, I was not truly awake.

This happened several more times in my dream until my daughter came into the room to (truly) wake me. I was exuberant to discover that I was actually and fully awake! Not that my dream was terrible, but the feeling of never being actually awake or asleep was a heavy, horrible feeling. I have had that feeling in real life too, especially on days like today.

I am going through the everyday motions of homeschooling (thank God for a schedule that keeps us all on task) but feel groggy in my teaching, sleepy in the presentation, and just plain wiped out. Some days, like today, I feel like I will never wake up to the reality of full-life living and learning. I keep trying to wake up but keep going back to bed hoping that next time, maybe tomorrow, I will wake up where reality is better than this dream-like state.

It is a season of plain old tiredness that comes because of a lack of sleep, an over-committed schedule, a change of seasons, or a change of hormones. Whatever the reason, we sometimes need help—we need someone’s hand upon us to wake us.     

We will all face hard situations in life that beg to knock us down and keep us there. Sometimes things happen in life that make you feel like you are being completely knocked off your feet, or maybe an event leaves you feeling like you have just had the wind knocked out of you. Maybe we feel the enemy has had the upper hand in the boxing ring and we are down for the count.

Whether you are feeling asleep in life or knocked down by life’s tribulations, there is hope for you. I have clung to the hope found in the Word of God in times like these. Don’t skip this part, for it is the necessary meat to give you strength for the journey, and it is what breathes courage in you to rise. Here is the food of hope and courage: When I am right smack dab in the middle of trouble, God will revive me. He will take care of my enemy, and He will save me. He will do for us as He did for David in Psalm 138:7:

          “Though I walk in the midst of trouble, thou wilt revive me: thou shalt stretch forth thine hand against the wrath of mine enemies, and thy right hand shall save me” (Psalm 138:7).

Not only will I be revived from my groggy, dark state, but the Lord also defeats the enemy who is trying to defeat me. He saves me! The bell rings and I win! I am shaken and fully awake! But how do we get there when we have little strength? The previous verses in the Psalm 138 (verses 1–3) give us a clue. Check out the words in bold letters:

            “I will praise thee with my whole heart: before the gods will I sing praise unto thee. I will worship toward thy    holy temple, and praise thy name for thy lovingkindness and for thy truth: for thou hast magnified thy word   above all thy name. In the day when I cried thou answeredst me, and strengthenedst me with strength in my soul.”

 When we use that little strength to praise, sing, worship, and cry out—God answers, strengthens, and revives our souls.

The word for revive in the above passage, is the Hebrew word chayah1; it means “creating, sustaining and preserving of life” and is also found in Job 33:4:

          “The Spirit of God hath made me, and the breath of the Almighty hath given me life.”

We find that God is the creator and preserver of our life—all feelings aside. Those fleeting dead feelings will change with time, but God’s sustaining of life will not. We must base our thoughts on that stronghold of faith and ask God to put His hand on us and wake, yes, revive our very heart and soul. This happens as we offer a sacrifice of praise to our God with whatever strength we have.

Not only will God revive us, strengthen us, and save us, but He will also perfect that which concerns us. Why? Because He is full of mercy for our earth-bound condition, and that mercy endures forever. It endures through our feelings of groggy self-absorption, our difficult circumstances, and our own lack of physical energy. It is because God made us that He sustains us; we are the work of His hands.

When your world is snoring or your world is shaking, worship God as your Creator. Invite the hand of God to shake you awake to the full realization of Who He is. He is mighty to save. It’s time to wake up.

“Though I walk in the midst of trouble, thou wilt revive me: thou shalt stretch forth thine hand against the wrath of mine enemies, and thy right hand shall save me. The Lord will perfect that which concerneth me: thy mercy, O Lord, endureth forever: forsake not the works of thine own hands” (Psalm 138:7–8).

Endnote:
1.  concordances.org/hebrew/2421.htm

 

Deborah Wuehler is the Senior Editor for TOS, participating author in The Homeschool Minute, wife to Richard, and mom to eight gifts from heaven. She loves digging for buried treasure in the Word, reading, writing, homeschooling, and dark chocolate! You may contact her at senioreditor@TheHomeschoolMagazine.com.

Copyright 2012, used with permission. All rights reserved by author. Originally appeared in the November 2012 issue of The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine, the family education magazine. Read the magazine free at www.TOSMagazine.com or read it on the go and download the free apps at www.TOSApps.com to read the magazine on your mobile devices.

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