Issue #174

Your weekly roundup of insights and resources to help you get more done for the glory of God.

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In Today’s Issue:

• Theology of Sleep
• Pastor's & Pulpit Fill
• The Right Kind of Stubborn
• Aren't You Lonely?
• Book Recommendation: Divine Providence

Dear steward,

Whenever I teach the principles from POWER Mornings it always ends up sparking a discussion about sleep.

After all, I’m suggesting that one way believers can create more consistent habits is by waking up earlier and doing things like Bible reading, prayer, and exercise first thing in the morning.

But what I’ve found fascinating is to hear how different people relate to sleep. Some see sleep as a thing they want to get as much as possible of. While those who struggle to get sleep, long for even just an hour of sleep like the rich man in hell longed for just a drop of water from Lazerus’s fingertip. Still others see sleep as a scary thing, they struggle to fall asleep or stay asleep because their minds are plagued with worry.

In the world of productivity, however, sometimes we can be tempted to view sleep as a necessary evil—something to get as little of as possible so we can maximize our productivity.

But that is not a biblical view sleep.

Certainly, we do not want to over-indulge like the slothful man in Proverbs 24:33. But when we examine the whole counsel of Scripture, we find that sleep is treated as a positive thing. And if we want to be biblically productive, we need to have a biblical theology of sleep.

The Scriptures teach us several things about how a productive Christian should think about those 7-10 hours we spend unconscious each night:

• Sleep Is an Act of Faith → “In peace I will both lie down and sleep; for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety.” (Psalm 4:8). When we close our eyes, our productive efforts cease, we give up control. This means entrusting ourselves to the Lord who will “neither slumber nor sleep” (Psalm 121:4).
• Sleep Is a Gift → “…he gives to his beloved sleep.” (Psalm 127:2). Sleep not a right, nor something we deserve. We can be tempted to feel bitter when sleep doesn’t come easily. But instead we should be grateful even if the Lord only grants us an hour.
• Sleep Is a Reward → “Sweet is the sleep of a laborer” (Ecclesiastes 5:12). God designed us to work. When we work hard, we sleep better.

If you want more on this, listen to this week's episode of the podcast. In that episode, I also share a new four-part evening routine to help you get better sleep and have a more productive tomorrow.

Watch or listen → What the Bible Says About Sleep.

How These High-Performing Leaders Reach Peak Productivity… Ask any productive leader about their productivity habits and you’ll get similar responses: Focus on a single task, prioritize and create to-do lists, organize your emails and so on. You don’t bring a knife to a gunfight. And you shouldn’t start the day without the right planning tool either. This is why high-performing leaders at Spotify, Y Combinator and Lightspeed organize their life with Sunsama — the daily planner for busy professionals. ​Sunsama helps you manage your tasks, meetings and emails all in one place by: Unifying your work: View your to-dos, calendars and emails in a single calm and focused view. Ending burnout: Prevent unsustainable workloads with daily planning. Staying focused: Our focus bar helps you keep track of your tasks and timer even outside of Sunsama. ​Get the tool trusted by the world’s most successful leaders. Try Sunsama ​Interested in sponsoring the newsletter?​

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​Pastor, Who Will Fill the Pulpit During Your Vacation? (5 mins)

Reagan Rose / Focus on the Family

This is from my latest for The Focused Pastor.

​The Right Kind of Stubborn (8 mins)

Paul Graham

Graham compares and contrasts persistence with obstinacy with some fascinating insights about what separates these two types of stubbornness. Success often requires the good kind of stubbornness but can be hampered by the bad kind.

This essay isn’t written from a Christian perspective, but I couldn’t help but see parallels to the wise man and the fool in Proverbs. “The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but a wise man listens to advice.” (Proverbs 12:15). The fool is obstinent, he goes his own way and ignores all counsel. The wise man is persistent, he stays on the path of wisdom and righteousness, by carefully heeding wise counsel.

While he listens to advice, the wise man still displays a kind of virtuous stubbornness in the face of folly’s temptations, “my son, do not walk in the way with them; hold back your foot from their paths, (Proverbs 1:15).

We want to be people who are the right kind of stubborn. We want to persist in the face of setbacks and temptations, not merely because it can lead to earthly success like Graham talks about, but because we are clear on our goal of glorifying God with our lives. We want to pursue it with a humble, yet stubborn, persistence.

​Aren’t You Lonely? (7 mins)

Freya India / After Babel

This Zoomer considers the effects on friendship a phone-based childhood has had on her generation.

A couple of issues ago I shared a quote from the forward to the updated Divine Providence by Stephen Charnock by P&R Publishing. Now that I'm nearly finished with the book, I'm pleased to give it a hearty recommendation!

Like so many Puritans, Charnock masterfully takes a single topic and examines it from ever possible angle. Divine Providence is a rich meditation on how God governs His world and what that means for us, His creatures.

I've been reading a chapter every morning, and it's been a wonderful way to begin my day grounded in the truth. As the hymn says:

​What the Bible Says About Sleep (19 mins)

Sometimes we can treat sleep like it's the enemy of productivity. But a biblical theology of sleep helps us see sleep for the gift it is.

We also look at a new evening routine following the acronym W.R.A.P., that can help you sleep better and ready yourself for a productive morning.

Just a heads up, I'm planning to go back to sending this newsletter twice-a-week, beginning in August. Full articles from me will hit your inbox on Tuesdays with the roundup emails (like this one) still going out on Thursdays.

Let me know if there are any topics you'd like to see my cover in upcoming articles.

Thanks!

Reagan Rose

Reagan Rose

I talk about personal productivity from a Christian perspective. Creator of ​Redeeming Productivity​.

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