{"id":951,"date":"2011-07-25T19:00:47","date_gmt":"2011-07-25T23:00:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/smalltownamerica\/?p=951"},"modified":"2012-07-23T14:50:27","modified_gmt":"2012-07-23T18:50:27","slug":"dont-bother-me-im-napping","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/smalltownamerica\/2011\/07\/dont-bother-me-im-napping.html","title":{"rendered":"Don’t Bother Me, I’m Napping"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>We all like to take a nap once in a while.\u00a0 That is a good thing.\u00a0 It has been medically proven that a short nap during the day increases our productivity and sharpens our thinking.\u00a0 My son-i n-law takes a nap every day during his lunch hour.\u00a0 He closes his door, turns out the lights and snoozes away.\u00a0 His co-workers know that if the door is shut and lights are out it means, “Don’t bother me, I’m napping.”<\/p>\n

Then there are retired folks who seem to nap all day.\u00a0 That is not good.\u00a0 It’s hard to get anything done if you’re sleeping the hours away, not to mention then you can’t sleep at night.\u00a0 These pictures show Rich, Smudge, and Noodles all enjoying an afternoon snooze.\u00a0 Now cats are designed to sleep all day because they roam around all night.\u00a0 Not so with people.\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

In the spiritual realm we sometimes find that Christians are doing too much napping.\u00a0 They are dreaming of the future while the present passes them by.\u00a0 Or they don’t want to be disturbed from their slumber to do Kingdom work or be obedient to God’s bidding.\u00a0 This kind of napping is not a good thing.\u00a0 In fact, it can get us into lots of trouble.<\/p>\n

David in Psalms 132:4-5 says,\u00a0 “I will not give sleep to mine eyes, or slumber to mine eyelids, until I find a place for the Lord, a habitation for the mighty God of Jacob.”\u00a0 He was referring to the building of the tabernacle of David.\u00a0 This he felt was God’s direction for him and he wasn’t going to rest until it was done.<\/p>\n

We also need to be diligent to obey God’s instructions for our lives.\u00a0 We cannot afford to be sleeping our lives away while Kingdom business goes undone. With our busy lifestyles and cluttered schedules, we tend to let days pass by without listening to the voice of our Heavenly Father.\u00a0 How many lives will go untouched while we “take a spiritual nap”?\u00a0 How many prayers will go un-answered because God chose us to be His instrument of answer, and we chose something else to fill our time?<\/p>\n

Resting\/napping is not bad in and of itself.\u00a0 But, we need to understand what is the appropriate time and place for such napping.\u00a0 Sometimes we do need a short rest from all our activities.\u00a0 Sometimes we just need to sleep and rest in peace, knowing that our Lord is looking out for us.<\/p>\n

So, when you are napping either naturally or spiritually, take your rest and sleep in peace.\u00a0 But, never ignore that still small voice when God tells you to get up and move.\u00a0 There is a perfect balance if you are willing to look for it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We all like to take a nap once in a while.\u00a0 That is a good thing.\u00a0 It has been medically proven that a short nap during the day increases our productivity and sharpens our thinking.\u00a0 My son-i n-law takes a nap every day during his lunch hour.\u00a0 He closes his door, turns out the lights…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":420,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,14],"tags":[42,11,19],"class_list":["post-951","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-encouragement","category-inspiration","tag-choices","tag-convictions","tag-faith"],"yoast_head":"\nDon't Bother Me, I'm Napping - Small Town America<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/smalltownamerica\/2011\/07\/dont-bother-me-im-napping.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Don't Bother Me, I'm Napping - 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