at times I find myself up at night with racing thoughts about my adult kids. It is the strongest battle time for me because the house is quiet, I’m not busy and just have myself to sit with. I found this Bible reading plan on you version and LOVED DAY 1!!! The plan is called “3 AM” if you want to check it out. I wanted to copy day 1 in here for you!!

Day 1-

So you're awake. Again. The clock says a number it has no business saying, the house is quiet, and your mind is the only thing in the neighbourhood still running at full speed.

You're not alone in this hour, and not just because millions of others are lying awake somewhere too. David wrote Psalm 4 at night. It ends with him lying down, and what got him there wasn't a technique. It was a Person: You alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety.

Notice he says alone. David had guards, walls, and weapons, and he'd learned that none of them could actually produce the thing he needed at night, which was safety deep enough to close his eyes inside of. Only God made him dwell in safety. Everything else just stood watch.

That's really the question 3AM keeps asking, underneath all the specific worries: who's actually keeping you safe? If the answer is me, then of course you can't sleep. The night shift never ends when you're the only one on it.

This week, one short reading a night, you're going to meet the God who takes that shift. Nothing to fix tonight. Nothing to solve.

Put the phone down after the prayer. Lie back. Start there.

REFLECTION

• What is the worry that most reliably takes the night shift?

• Who has actually been assigned to keep you safe at night, and how is that going?

PRAYER

Lord, it's late and the mind won't stop. David said You alone make him dwell in safety, so this is the handover: the watch is Yours tonight. Nothing needs solving before morning. Grant sleep, or at least peace, whichever comes first. Amen.