Time to sleep

Norah Summers September 28, 2026 1 0

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1 Kings 19: 3-9 (NIV-UK)

3 Elijah was afraid and ran for his life. When he came to Beersheba in Judah, he left his servant there, 4 while he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness. He came to a broom bush, sat down under it and prayed that he might die. ‘I have had enough, Lord,’ he said. ‘Take my life; I am no better than my ancestors.’ 5 Then he lay down under the bush and fell asleep.

All at once an angel touched him and said, ‘Get up and eat.’ 6 He looked around, and there by his head was some bread baked over hot coals, and a jar of water. He ate and drank and then lay down again.

7 The angel of the Lord came back a second time and touched him and said, ‘Get up and eat, for the journey is too much for you.’ 8 So he got up and ate and drank. Strengthened by that food, he travelled for forty days and forty nights until he reached Horeb, the mountain of God. 9 There he went into a cave and spent the night.

And the word of the Lord came to him: ‘What are you doing here, Elijah?’

We return to this idea of the Bible as a place we can go. It is less a book and more a Library.

This is a quiet interlude in the busy life of Elijah. It follows the dramatic contest in which he has just routed the prophets of the god Baal and thereby incurred the murderous wrath of King Ahab, and, worse, of Queen Jezebel. He flees for his life.

Having escaped into the desert, he finds himself alone with his thoughts and is overwhelmed. Completely exhausted. Burned out. Wishing he could just curl up and die.

I am hearing Mendelssohn’s aria ‘It is enough . . .’

But God, as usual, has other plans. More work awaits, so Elijah has to prepare for it. The journey ahead will be long, but he will be given strength. Can you get a takeaway in the wilderness? Yes, of course, and an angel to deliver it.

My Dad was a great quoter, of Scripture and of poetry – this story reminds me of two of his favourites. After a meal he would sit back and beam at my Mother and say ‘I could go on the strength of that for many days!’ And he reckoned that there was a quote for almost every occasion in The Ancient Mariner. ‘Oh sleep it is a gentle thing, beloved from pole to pole.'

So Elijah has a good meal and a good sleep, and sets off again.

Sleep is a very odd thing, we spend about a third of our lives doing it, unconsciously. We dream, often about quite bizarre situations. The Bible is full of dreams and visions – very often when people suppose they are resting they are being called/inspired/encouraged to take on something new.

Rest is not necessarily an absence of action – it may be an active process in itself.

I am myself a great believer in the restorative and healing power of sleep.

‘O rest in the Lord’ – Mendelssohn again.

My Library incorporates a Concert Hall.

Prayer:

Loving God,

thank you for books and for music,

for poetry and song,

for rest and refreshment,

for sleep.