Get Up And Eat

Then he lay down and slept under the broom tree.  But as he was sleeping, an angel touched him and told him, "Get up and eat!"  He looked around and saw some bread baked on hot stones and a jar of water!  So he ate and drank and lay down again.  

Then the angel of the Lord came again and touched him and said, "Get up and eat some more, for there is a long journey ahead of you."

So he got up and age and drank, and the food gave him enough strength to travel forty days and forty nights to Mount Sinai, the mountain of God.  There he came to a cave, where he spent the night.

1 Kings 19:5-9

Fortunately this isn't my story, but for many of my friends, it is.  When I was reading this chapter of 1 Kings today I immediately thought of my GFF's who are always complaining of their inability to stay asleep at night.  Just like Elijah they lay down and have no trouble relaxing and falling asleep, their trouble lies in staying asleep.  We joke about the many reasons for this, such as hormones and stress, but there is one reason that I strongly believe in, and it can be directly related to Elijah.  

When the angel of the Lord awoke Elijah he told him to "get up and eat".  Seems like an odd request in the middle of the night and after Elijah ate and fell back asleep the angel, once again, awoke Elijah and commanded him to eat again.  This got me thinking, why would God command someone to eat a whole bunch and why would He do it in the middle of the night?  Elijah was heading into a 40 day fast, traveling over 200 miles to Mount Sinai.  God knew that Elijah needed the food to nourish his body and give him strength for the journey ahead.  I know you are thinking that we don't live like that.  We don't travel long distances on foot through the desert but none of you can deny that we all have journeys.  We all travel through circumstances that are difficult and at times require intense focus just to get through a moment of time.  

So if you are waking up in the middle of the night it may be an angel of the Lord tickling your nose wanting you to get up and eat.  But this is where your story might differ from Elijah's, aside from not physically seeing and hearing an angel, you aren't eating real food but God's word.  You don't have to eat bread but instead converse with the Bread of Life.  If you can't sleep at night maybe God wants to talk to you.  Maybe you are going through a situation that needs some guidance or maybe you are about to begin a journey of turmoil and strife.  God wants to prepare you for what lies ahead and it's possible that the best time to get your attention is in the middle of the night.  Just like Elijah needed nourishment and strength for what lay ahead, He wants to fill you up with knowledge and wisdom to handle what's to come in your life.  I may be way off.  Only God knows your future, but if you are waking up a lot and every night you owe it to Him to talk to Him and or open your bible and listen to Him speak to you.  Why not fill up on Him every moment we can so that when we run into to those tough situations we are better prepared to endure them.