“In peace I will lie down and sleep, for you alone, LORD, make me dwell in safety.” Psalm 4:8

Nightmares are something I’ve grown up with. Partly, because of this is why I am so selective what I read, watch, or listen to (the other part is because it grieves me to grieve my Jesus by partaking of the “world”). My husband grew up plagued by night terrors as well. We’ve talked about how we can feel a nightmare coming on even before we drift off to sleep.

Afraid of shadows, tossing and turning in fright, too anxious to fall asleep. This isn’t what God desires for me, not even close. He desires that I experience peace and calm. My sleep is meant to be restful. My sleep is meant to be sweet.

Not many days ago, I had this familiar feeling, a nightmare coming on. I prayed God would give me peace. I felt like He told me, “Tell me who Jesus is”. It felt a caring mother’s encouragement, to ponder in her goodness, as she hugs her infant tightly and says, “I won’t let anything get you”. I went through, in a rather elementary way, professing what I know about the lover of my soul.

It sounded something like this: Jesus is your son. Jesus is pure and perfect. He is holy and righteous. He came to be a man. He was the perfect sacrifice. Jesus was too powerful to stay dead. Jesus rose again. He stands at your right hand now, advocating for me.

After my initial walkthrough of Jesus in salvation, I continued into His characteristics. Jesus was kind. He let the children come to Him. For a time, He was a carpenter. Jesus was then a teacher. He loved his disciples. In Him there is no darkness or lies because He is light and truth. He healed people. He was patient with them. He gave everything to serve others. Jesus was love incarnate.

As I started drifting off to sleep, I thought how blessed am I that my source of comfort and calm isn’t far away. I just have to look up. Nothing changed that night as I lay in bed, nothing except my level of peace and gratitude. The devil will try to use fear to keep me in an anxious state, but God crushes that fear. The few minutes I focused my thoughts on Jesus and reciting thing after thing about Him, I felt so much better.

I try to keep the habit of asking myself, “who is Jesus” and proceeding to answer it with as many true things I can think of. I try to think, “what would Jesus think of this or that”, “what would Jesus do, what would He say?” I’m grateful that when I was gripped by a sense of fear, God reminded me who my Savior really is. And in turn, He reminded me who I am. I am loved. I am worth the price. I have value in His eyes. I am a victor. I am brave. I can handle anything, with God. He does the fighting; I just have to rest in Him and trust Him.

“For I am the LORD your God who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you.” Isaiah 41:13

“When you lie down, you will not be afraid; when you lie down, your sleep will be sweet.” Proverbs 3:24