As someone who, for many, many years had major problems with sleep – I know only too well what a miracle it is when sleep DOES come, not just a totally unsatisfying 2-3 hours, but to go to sleep when you go to bed, and sleep through… in Sweden, a number of people had sleep miracles given to them by God. If you’ve NEVER had slep issues, that’s a hard thing to conceive of,  but believe me, it’s a miracle….

I had a message the other day, and as I haven’t asked permission to use names yet, I’ll just say C.S., who’d had major problems with sleeping. Here’s what was in the message…

• Two weeks now without sleeping problems 🙂 :)…. tomorrow I’m leading worship at a big conference ‘heaven on earth’ in Örebro with people from Bethel

Two whole weeks! Enough time for your body to BEGIN to recover from lack of it, but I’m believing that it’s a lifetime thing now for that lovely person.

My problem with sleep related to fear, if I’m honest, that hit me like a train when I was 12…. I’d just got home from school, had had a good day, and had been home 9 minutes (it’s ingrained in my memory, you can tell from the specific time!), to hear my dad die, upstairs, at home, and I wasn’t allowed (by a well meaning friend) to go straight up and see him before he went to be with Jesus…. as a 12 year old, having someone die, and then having the body in the house overnight, ‘did’ me for sleep, and going upstairs on my own, for many years…

And then, learning about the vital importance of rest, living here, I’ve slept well, for the best part of the four and a half years I’ve lived here. Of course, there are some nights when ‘crises’ or issues overwhelm your mind as soon as your head hits the pillow, but I can only tell you how amazing it is, after 45 years of – sometimes total – sleeplessness (yes, I often had prayer for it, ministry for the fear, but the enemy can be blooming persistent at presenting you with issues that ensure he keeps you awake!) – what a miracle it is.

And, an additional blessing, my doctor friend in Mexico, who’s taken me ‘on’ as a project (!!) – weight and knees especially – has been ‘responsible’ for my losing 1½ stones – 21 pounds – 10 kgs, in 3 weeks…..it seems, genuinely, that my metabolism had never really worked properly, and the ‘event’ that deprived me of sleep, my dad’s death, also put paid to the little my metabolism DID work… Maybe it was a prophetic act (! LOL!!) but months ago, I bought from Amazon, in one of their ‘bargain’ Monday to Wednesday sales, a leather belt hole punch…. now, I’ve mad two more holes in my belt – so, 2 inches (10 cms) down….. yeah!!!! Only another 50 pounds/30 kgs to go 😉 – and another 6 inches off the middle….