the Week of Proper 28 / Ordinary 33
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Daily Devotionals
Chip Shots from the Ruff of Life
It was one of those kind of nights. My wife and I hit the sack around ten; both of us very tired from a long day. We both seemed to drift off to sleep without any trouble. But staying asleep was what would pose the problem. If there was something that would keep us awake this would be the night that it would happen. We were on our way to a sleepless night.
Around 1:00 my cell phone rang. My wife and I both struggled to get awake to answer it. By the time my wife, whose side of the bed is closest to my dresser, got to the phone the caller had already hung up. We looked at the phone number and neither of us knew who it was. I lay there awake for the longest time, half expecting the phone to ring again. I finally was back asleep when several loud claps of thunder jolted me awake.
We were in the midst of a thunder storm complete with lightning. The lightning and thunder were almost perfectly synchronized so I knew that the storm was pretty much right on top of us. This persisted for quite some time and then died down. Then the 4:30 alarm went off. I realized an extra hour of sleep would be precious so I reset the alarm for 5:30 and lay back down. My head had no more than hit the pillow when the storm re-erupted. I lay there awake until 5:30 and shut off the alarm.
Sleepless nights don't happen in our household that often. My wife and I are both rather tired right now from lack of sleep, but we must be about our business. There was another sleepless night many years ago. A man prayed alone in a garden well into the wee hours of the night while His friends slept not far from Him. He poured His heart out to His Father.
"And He said, 'Abba, Father, all things are possible for you. Take this cup away from me; nevertheless, not what I will, but what you will.' " Mark 14:36 Once Jesus was finished praying He went about his business following this sleepless night. He was arrested, tried, convicted, sentenced and crucified in His "busy day". I pray that the next time you or I have a sleepless night, we will remember His sleepless night.
'Chip Shots from the Ruff of Life' Copyright 2010 © Tom Kelley. 'Chip Shots from the Ruff of Life' articles may be reproduced in whole under the following provisions: 1) A proper credit must be given to the author at the end of each story, along with their complete bio and a link to https://www.studylight.org/ 2) 'Chip Shots from the Ruff of Life' content may not be arranged or "mirrored" as a competitive online service.
