Sleep vs. Eat

What are two things our bodies can’t live without? Sleeping and eating.

You may not realize it, but these survival behaviors work in concert. Starvation suppresses sleep, whereas sleep deprivation promotes feeding. Physical laws and observations can be translated to basic spiritual premises. For example, let’s use this observation about survival behaviors and apply it spiritually.

When we are low on food (ie, manna, bread, Word of God), we tend to lack sleep (ie, peace, rest, etc). Meaning, when we don’t get enough of the Word, we have more trouble finding peace in our lives. However, when we are low on sleep (ie, peace, rest, etc), we seek food (ie, manna, bread, Word of God). In other words, when the trials of the world come crashing down on us, we tend to read our Bibles, pray more, and seek God

These survival behaviors create balance in our lives. Everyone knows that it’s unhealthy to eat or sleep all day. Too much peace and rest in our lives can lead to ideas of complacency, self-sufficiency, and slothfulness. Likewise, being fat with knowledge, yet without experiencing the peace of God, has consequences. The Bible says that knowledge will mislead you when you say to yourself, “I am, and there is none besides me” (Is 47:10).

As we know, the Bible has instructions and answers for everything including balance in this sleep-vs-eat system. In Pro 19:15, we are told that an idle soul shall suffer hunger. Furthermore, in Pro 20:13 we are instructed to not love sleep or we will grow poor, and to stay awake so that we will have food to spare. While it’s evident that we need sleep and food to survive physically and spiritually, it takes a balance of them to live.