Naps, Coffee, and God

"Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me." --Psalm 51: 10-12

I don't know about anybody else, but I love naps. Cat naps, naps after meals, naps before bedtime, naps after I wake up (which may count as a continuation of sleeping), naps during commercial breaks...you get the idea. Now, I don't find anything wrong with naps, but for me, naps can often be an escape from the things that bog me down emotionally, physically, and spiritually. I have 3 essays to do before tomorrow morning? I think it's naptime. I need to study for finals? Naptime. I need to blog a couple times before I leave for six weeks to Cairo? Should I get a cup of coffee and get to it? Nah...naptime.

Sure, resting is key in maintaing a healthy body, mind, and soul. For me, I believe that there is a difference in "resting" and "resting in God." In Psalm 51, David cries to God and begs that He restores joy and gives David a willing spirit, to sustain him. As I go into the Cairo trip (and my day by day living), this passage suggests that my energy, joy, motivation comes not from naps, "You can do it" posters, or Chuck Norris video clips. Instead, as I begin to stumble and lose momentum, God offers the pick-me-up that beats the largest cup of coffee or a bottle of "Five Hour Energy."

My response to that is "Awesome! So how do I do that?..." When I'm overwhelmed by the poverty in the garbage villages or unsure how to react to what I see in Cairo, what do I do to be sustained? Do I pray "super-hard?" Maybe I shouldn't sleep and just pray all day instead...absolutely no naps? As I was looking at the passage of Psalm 51 again, I saw that verse 10 says "Create in me a pure heart...and renew a steadfast spirit." Notice it doesn't mention anything to the effect of "Reward me with gratuitous amounts of energy when I pray instead of nap. Besides, our neighbor Tim is napping right now on his hammock instead of reading his Bible, so I should get brownie points." The emphasis is placed on a passive mind and body, but an active heart. David cries out to God, and asks for Him to do something in David that no amount of human effort can accomplish: a pure heart and a passionate spirit.

Ultimately, that is what I desire. I don't know if that pure heart and changed spirit will show up today or next month, or if it will be a gentle transformation or more something like a dove landing on my shoulder like in Touched by an Angel. What I do know is that God asks for my desire, and I believe, he'll take care of the stuff that I could only begin to scratch the surface of changing.