What, if anything, keeps you awake at night? Are there any anxieties or fears that roll through your mind that keep you from sleeping? This is a common question in the business world, especially for the owners or leaders that feel the stress to keep the business going knowing that not only do their livelihoods but others’ livelihoods are dependent on them. But you don’t have to be a boss or owner of a company to experience stresses that create insomnia. Any fear of loss that stems from a real or perceived lack of power to control people and situations can create stress that will rob sleep from you. You can worry about family finances, personal health, the health of family members, loss of job, loss of relationships because of tensions, and a myriad of other things.
In the end, what keeps us up at night is the lack of security. We feel threatened with some sort of loss accompanied by the powerlessness to change things. We sleep well when we feel secure.
Security is one of the basic needs of man. We were created in a safe relationship with God; a relationship so safe that Adam could go to sleep without fear knowing his side was about to be ripped out surrounded by animals he barely knew all around him. He was secure in the care of God, believed he was secure, and, therefore, was free from fear of anything that might destroy him.
Sin destroyed this security both objectively and subjectively. Man became the object of God’s wrath and, because of that, he was destined to lose everything. Consequently, without genuine security, man is subject to the bondage of fear. In his grace, God provides security for man through faith, but some reject his provision altogether while others of us still wrestle with trusting God’s promises.
Solomon is concerned that his son be free from fear that grows from the lack of genuine security. In Proverbs 3.21-26, Solomon tells his son that if he keeps or guards wisdom and discretion, then he will walk on his way securely and his foot will not stumble. He will lie down and not be afraid; his sleep will be sweet. The lack of fear grows out of the promise of walking securely and not stumbling.
Stumbling in this context doesn’t mean that there will never be any challenges for the son that will trip him up at times. Wisdom’s way is fraught with deadly obstacles. The wisdom of God is, after all, revealed in the cross (cf. 1Cor 1.18ff.). Stumbling refers to striking your foot in such a way that you fall and don’t get up (cf. Ps 91.12). This is the stumbling in which a person tumbles into complete destruction. While there are challenges on the road of wisdom, none of those challenges, no matter if it is death itself, will mean your ultimate destruction. Walking in the way of wisdom is security.
Because of this, there is no need to fear. When you are secure, you can lie down in sleep and truly rest. As Adam did in the Garden, you can go into a deep sleep without fear because you know you are safe.
Solomon’s reference to sleep is not limited to the daily routine of waking and sleeping. That is certainly on the surface of the promise. But our daily routine tells a greater and more profound story about our lives; a daily reminder of the destiny of all men. Sleep is used in reference to death in many places in Scripture (cf. 1Cor 11; 15; 1Thess 4). The use of the word “sleep” in reference to death is significant. Sleeping anticipates waking. Death, in God’s economy, anticipates resurrection. Each day we live a complete history in a micronarrative: we die in order to rise again; we go to sleep anticipating waking the next day with new, reinvigorated life.
Walking in wisdom’s way, committing your total self to God’s truth, means that, not only may you lie down each night in your most vulnerable state without fear, but it also means that when your time comes to close your eyes for the last time on this earth, you may do so securely and, thus, without fear. You are safe.
The wisdom of which Solomon speaks has now been fully revealed in Christ Jesus. We must read Proverbs as Jesus taught the disciples on the Road to Emmaus to read all of the Scriptures: through the lenses of his revelation. Christ Jesus is “Wisdom from God” (1Cor 1.30). In him are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge (Col 2.3). As we commit ourselves to “the Way” of wisdom (Ac 9.2; 19.9, 23; 24.14), we are secure. United to Wisdom himself neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created being is able to viably threaten us with the ultimate loss. In Christ you are secure.
Fear not!
