Sleep has been in short supply around here lately, and its lack nearly did me in. Sam can't get up by himself without assistance. If he's up, I'm up, too. Sam has a "doorbell." The ringer button is on a cord around his neck. The bell part is portable, so I have it with me in my bedroom. It rings an eight-note chime every time Sam pushes the button.
I've learned to hate that doorbell.
It's very helpful because Sam can get me when he needs assistance. The problem has been that he needed help every two hours all night long. As you can imagine, neither of us has gotten much sleep lately.
When the nurse came Tuesday, I had reached the trembling-tired stage. "We have to do something," I told her. "I can't take it anymore."
She smiled. "It's not doing Sam any good either."
I hate to admit this, but I hadn't considered for a moment whether getting up every two hours was bothering Sam. At that point, all that mattered was me. I silently repented on the spot for not caring about my neighbor, but it didn't change the fact that I was still falling-down-tired.
"Why is he getting up?" she asked. I explained the problem.
"We can change his medicine. I see several things that might help," the nurse assured me. She contacted the doctor. He adjusted the medicine. They brought the meds and supplies back out to us before the day was done.
The first night, I slept 3 1/2 hours at one stretch, and Sam slept longer than that. I know. It doesn't seem like much but, when you're going on 1/2 hour increments, it's tremendous. Last night, we had only one time up. I awakened refreshed and ready for the day.
After decades of night-call as a physician, you'd think I could do this thing called sleep-deprivation. Apparently, I can't.
What I completely forgot, in my sleep-deprived state, was the problem causing the problem. Once that was addressed, the sleep issue quickly resolved.
My problem of utter exhaustion didn't happen because we had sleep issues. It was the result of a physical problem that prevented sleep. The only thing that could help was to address the root problem.
Most issues are like that. We see only the symptoms the problem has caused, but forget the sin that has put us there. We're broken people in a broken world, and it is sin that has caused our brokenness.
Violence in teenagers isn't the root problem. Divorce isn't the root, nor is domestic violence, homelessness, sexual trafficking, or any of the other horrors we face today. The root lies somewhere else, usually in deeply ingrained hurt and sin. The symptoms can only be completely alleviated when the initiating problem is addressed.
As a child, I drove my Mother crazy asking why. As an adult, I've found it to be an incredibly helpful question.
If the answer to why is sin, only God can heal it.
Today, let's take a deeper look at the difficulties we face. If the origin is a sin that needs to be addressed, let's address it. If the origin is a hurt that needs to be healed, let's take it to our Lord for healing. Don't treat the symptoms. Treat what caused those symptoms.
"...for He gives to His beloved sleep." Psalm 127:2
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