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I bless the Lord who gives me counsel;
in the night also my heart instructs me.
I keep the Lord always before me;
because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved.
Therefore my heart is glad, and my soul rejoices;
my body also rests secure. –– Psalm 16:7-9
Sleep on it. I have to admit, it sounds a bit more sophisticated than the typical delay tactic I use when I am not ready to respond immediately to a question, request, or invitation. Normally, if I am not ready to answer, I resort to the ancient Paleolithic request for deferral –– “Huh?” No matter the method, I confess that I am seldom ready to respond immediately. I want a grace period to ponder, compare, mull, muse, meditate, cogitate, deliberate, ruminate, and then … I’m still not ready to respond, but flirting with the edge of someone’s patience, I’ll throw the dart of decision just hoping to at least land in the zip code of passable. Impulse and spontaneity were out of stock the day I visited the equipment manager. Facing a decision, I’m echoing the Psalmist, “Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him.” Facing me, others get their inspiration from Paul, “Suffer fools gladly.”
You have to admit, though, that being decisive carries its own risks. There is a thin line between speedy resolve and recklessness, impetuosity, or impudence. In the heat of the moment, in the crucible, when the blood pressure runs high, where emotions are charged –– These tend not to be the settings where reason thrives. Thus, there is value in the pause –– A time to cool, decompress, reflect, think rationally, breathe, pray, reconsider, shower the rage off your brain.
I remember once being unavoidably inserted into a couple’s domestic dispute, and I can still hear myself interrupting their volleys of insult, sounding like the peacemaker in a bad soap opera, “Listen! It’s late. You are both tired (I wisely kept to myself the observation that they were also both drunk). You must be exhausted. Go to bed. Sleep on it. Maybe the air will be a little clearer in the morning.” I wasn’t looking for a miracle. I was just hoping the flames would transform into a manageable frost. Unless he is the enforcer/goon, even the hockey player can find some value in the penalty box –– a time to reframe the anger into focus and remember how he can add worth to what the team is seeking to achieve.
Sleep on it. What was spirit sucking, heart rending, and mind warping the night before may not seem so world flipping in the morning light, particularly as we allow the space for the Spirit of God to do its work. “I bless the Lord who gives me counsel; in the night also my heart instructs me. I keep the Lord always before me; because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved. Therefore my heart is glad, and my soul rejoices;
my body also rests secure.” Sometimes, our sleepless nights have more to do with our refusal to listen for the Lord than with the intractability of the problem before us. The prophet Jeremiah encourages us: For surely I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope. Then when you call upon me and come and pray to me, I will hear you. When you search for me, you will find me. Decisiveness has its place, but everybody needs time to process. Of course, the difference between anxiety and peace depends on the essential partner in the process. May the Lord be both your counsel and your rest in the process. Sleep on it.
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