If you can stay up all night, you can get up in the morning.

I know the statement to be true. If you’ve had children (or pets) in your house, you’ve likely experienced at least one sleepless night…but still had to get up in the morning for more childcare or work or some other “fun” responsibilities that come along with adulthood. The problem is, for most of us, we heard this gem of motivating wisdom during the teen or college years when many of us had the luxury of flexible schedules and lighter loads of responsibilities, which can lead to the rationalization that it’s okay to sleep half the day. Something the adults living around us don’t like too much – probably because they don’t share the same luxury.

Why are the nighttime hours so enthralling? Watching movies, updating social network sites, reading, hanging out with friends are all things we can do in daylight hours. While my daughter was home last Christmas, I stayed up until 1:30 working on a puzzle two nights in one week. I’m in my forties and don’t need to stay up even close to that time, but I was enjoying myself. I think staying up late – at least for adults – often involves doing something you don’t feel you have the time to do during the day, which is filled with so many other obligations.

Speaking from experience, I can assure you the obligations of the day suffer from the “enjoyment” of the night. I remember a night during college finals when we studied until around 2 a.m. and decided to take a road trip to a city about 2 hours away, enjoy breakfast, and return before our 8 a.m. finals…just because we needed a break. I’m sure I wasn’t at my best on that final, but I didn’t feel the effects of the all-nighter until later in the day. That definitely wouldn’t work now. Getting old is rough.

Or maybe not. After all, “God saw that the light was good, so he divided the light from the darkness.” (Genesis 1:4)

How healthy are your sleeping habits?

How well do you separate the light from the darkness in your life?

What’s one thing you can do this week to improve your time in the light (and be still through the darkness)?

You are the light that gives light to the world. A city that is built on a hill cannot be hidden. And people don’t hide a light under a bowl. They put it on a lampstand so the light shines for all the people in the house. In the same way, you should be a light for other people. Live so that they will see the good things you do and will praise your Father in heaven. Matthew 5:14-16