Women In Touch Post #2: How To Sleep Like Baby Jesus

By Risa Richardson

Ever since Michaela was just hours old, one of my favorite things to do is watch her sleep.

In the wee hours of the morning, when those 2:30 a.m. feedings gave me chronic insomnia, I would stare at her for hours sometimes, watching her little belly rise and fall. I would put my face against hers to feel her breath tickle my cheek. I would get a love high when I sniffed in her sweet, baby-powder, Snuggle-fabric-softener smell.

She is so perfect, especially when she’s sleeping peacefully. It always makes me think of the words of the old Christmas song, “Silent Night”.

“Sleee-eep in heavenly peace,” I sometimes whisper-sing to her.

And then, of course, there are those nights when I was just dying to get a few winks in before she woke up to eat or be changed. At those times, I would envy her.

Not a care in the world, I would think. No electric bill. No job. No traffic to beat. No worries, no problems.

“It must be nice,” I would think, “to be able to go to sleep without a care in the world.”

But then, really, I could sleep like that. I just don’t sometimes.

Why?

Because I don’t leave my burdens and problems at my bedside. Instead, I say my prayers, tell God my problems, and then crawl into bed with them still on my mind.

I worry about this and I fret about that. I go through a list of complaints and issues and try to figure things out.

One of my favorite songs, “What a Friend We Have in Jesus”, says it best. When my siblings and I were younger, we used to sing the hymn for the old folks in the nursing home where my daddy worked.

It goes, in part, like this:

What a friend we have in Jesus,

All our sins and griefs to bear!

What a privilege to carry

Everything to God in prayer!

And then, there’s my favorite part:

O what peace we often forfeit,

O what needless pain we bear,

All because we do not carry

Everything to God in prayer.

During this holiday season, when I think about Baby Jesus laying a manger filled with hay, in a cold barn with the farm animals, I can’t help but think that he had to be a bit uncomfortable. Furthermore, he knew what was in store for him, that one day people so filled with hatred and contempt would nail him to a cross and murder him.

Yet, the song says he slept in heavenly peace. Why? Because he was the Almighty. He had all power in his tiny hands. He had a purpose and a plan. He was a newborn baby, but he had things under control.

Yes, we too can sleep like a baby. We serve an awesome God. We serve the man who made the world, so he has no problem handling our little problems.

The Bible tells me so:

Jeremiah 32:27– I am the LORD, the God of all mankind. Is anything too hard for me?

Matthew 19:26 (NIV) — Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”

So the next time you find yourself tossing and turning, trying to figure things out and worrying about your problems, just remember that God has your back.He has it all under control.

He can work it out quicker than you can take an Ambien.

With that in mind, excuse me please. I think it’s time for me to … zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

***Risa Richardson is a stay-at-home mother to 2-year-old Michaela and the wife of Evangelist Michael Richardson, who has been a part of Rev. Jim Whittington’s ministry since the age of 9. A resident of Lexington, Kentucky, Risa holds a bachelor’s degree in print journalism from Western Kentucky University and is currently a graduate student studying health communications at the University of Kentucky. She is the author of a weekly blog, “Binkies, Bottles & Blessed Assurance” at BluegrassMoms.com.