What keeps you up at night?

Our subconscious self sometimes acts like our master. When it is not happy, you can't be happy either; how many sleepless nights we've had to suffer because of unresolved issues deep inside?  In our waking hours, we can use our rational faculties to overcome inner discomfort or we can compensate by distracting ourselves with other things. Our inner self is smarter than that though...cognitive self-talk or distracting activities are mere bandaids that pop off in our sleep. 

Some people think that this subconscious self is our 'god', the part of us that knows all things and therefore whatever it wills, we must heed. But the subconscious is not perfect and it certainly isn't all knowing; it merely harbors our perceptions of the outside world, which are not always good or even true.

When the Bible talks about the renewal of our mind (Romans 12:2), it doesn't just refer to our active cognitive function, it is talking about an overhaul of our entire internal world--including the subconscious layer. Sometimes stress-induced sleepless nights indicate that divine work is being done inside; maybe our values need to shift, maybe some form of deception regarding ourselves or the world has to be revealed.

For Christians, praying to God can redeem our sleep loss; more importantly, desiring transformation can shorten the sleepless cycle, as it dethrones the small 'god' inside us and welcomes the big God--who made us and who can safeguard our absolute "rest".