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“Sleeping Fast”

By October 24, 2012August 30th, 2022Devotional

It’s rather late on Tuesday evening and I don’t know that I will get this finished before the date on the calendar changes. It was quite a week-end in Gatlinburg and then I taught all day Monday in Knoxville, TN. After work, Janet and I loaded the family in the car and headed back to Carmel, about 6-1/2 hours from Knoxville. We finally arrived home before midnight – just in time to unload the car, get into bed and, as my grandfather used to say, “sleep fast.” That’s because Pam, a good friend and client of mine from New Jersey, flew in this morning and arrived in Indy just before noon.

We spent the day together working on budgets for next year and discussing all the potential pipeline sales on the horizon. Then, after dinner together at a local restaurant, we dropped her off at the hotel and I started my preparation for my next out of town trip – you guessed it – on Wednesday morning. That’s when I head to Dallas and then on to Oklahoma City after a short layover. We have dinner plans on Wednesday evening and then I teach again all day Thursday. The good news is that I get to spend the day with our daughter, Jill, and the team that she leads.

Her team members are really great and I look forward to spending the day with them. Of course, I also enjoyed my day on Monday with a similar team in Knoxville – but it’s rare that I head to two different parts of the country in the same week. After teaching all day Thursday, I will head back to Indy and arrive right around midnight. Friday, things don’t get any easier. I have both morning and afternoon meetings and I have a feeling that I won’t get much rest until the week-end.

That’s where the idea of sleeping fast comes in. When I was young, I used to complain to my grandfather that I had too much homework, or too many chores to do, or too much work in the yard, or that life wasn’t fair… He told me that if I didn’t have enough hours in the day, that I would have to learn how to sleep fast – in other words, cut down the time that I stayed in bed and spend more waking hours getting things done. That’s how I feel tonight – not enough hours in the day. In fact, this week, I have had a hard time even knowing what time it is or what city I am in.

So far, I have been in Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee and North Carolina this week – driving more than 1000 miles so far; tomorrow I add Texas and Oklahoma to my tally. Sometimes I feel like a stranger in a strange land – the scenery changes and the weather changes – but after a time, the hotel rooms pretty much look the same. And the teams that I am working with all like to start early – that’s not exactly how I like to roll… another reason I have to sleep fast…

But whenever I get overwhelmed with the travel and all the preparation, I am reminded that God is with me wherever I am. Since He is omnipresent (everywhere at once), I am never alone. Believe me, that is a comforting thought. Because sometimes I am so focused on the job at hand that I don’t take care of my devotional needs and my time with the Father. It’s reassuring to know that He understands that and is ready for me when I finally settle down for the evening and spend a little time with Him.

The verse for tonight is from Heb. 11:9, “By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise.” Today, I guess that you could say we stay in hotels rather than tents, but the idea remains the same. We have faith that God with with us and that we continue to remain a part of His promise.

My encouragement this evening is that you remember that God is with you wherever you are. My prayer is that no matter how busy you are, you will take at least a little time each day to spend in communion with God – even if that means that you have to “sleep fast.” Have a great day in the Lord, grace and peace…

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