Wake Up From The Slumber Of Sin

This is a guest post written by my husband Will Randall

 “Awake oh sleeper, rise up from the dead and Christ will give you light.”  ~ Ephesians 5:14

The other day I took a nap.  It was one of those naps that you lose complete consciousness and awareness of time. I may have been out 10 minutes, but it felt like hours.  Drool was crawling down the side of my mouth-I know you’ve been there. My house could have started on fire and I may not have moved. I wasn’t sure what woke me, but when I got up I was completely out of it.  My wife told me she had been calling my name for a few minutes.

The deep slumber I was in reminded me of the sleep in Ephesians 5:14, a state of mind that can leave you completely unaware of what is going on around you, or inside of you.

When you are stuck in a pattern of repeated behavior that is not honorable to God, it can be nearly impossible to stop.  Imagine the tire of a car that spins in the mud, unable to move, becoming more and more stuck.

This is what addictions are like. Perpetual destructive behavior can include over indulging in food, worrying, marking our body (cutting), lying, looking at pornography, drinking, drug abuse, etc. In short, medicating your reality in different ways.

The real danger comes when you lose any feeling of conviction or guilt about this behavior. You gradually give yourself over to the darkness of this behavior, and the stronghold can become nearly unbreakable.

Yet even in the deepest quagmire of this habitual activity you will have moments of sanity. A glimmer of light will attempt to break into this dark isolation of self. Moments of guilt and awareness of how far you have fallen will ping ever so slightly before all light is snuffed out. It is in these moments, however brief this behavior subsides, that you must act and reach for help.

You must wake up.

It’s like being in a dream, desperately trying to do something, but unable to. The grip of an ungodly course, especially a course of repeated sin, can make a man hollow.

When you fall away from the life God designed for you, it is like falling asleep.

I believe this is why we are called to live in community with others. It is important to have someone you are accountable to. It must be someone that will recognize when you are adrift. Your fellowship must be transparent enough that those in your circle recognize when you are not your self. They will also ideally be people that care enough to get in your face and apply loving force to shake you out of your slumber. In those moments when the sinful behavior recedes, your accountability partners can help draw you away from the things in your life that are keeping you stuck.

“Wounds from a sincere friend are better than many kisses from an enemy” Proverbs 27:6

I don’t remember my wife calling me from the other room. But I clearly heard it because I woke up. I made a commitment to someone for that afternoon, and they had arrived to pick me up. My wife called for me to get up. I like this example because I believe God can use people in your life to shake you, to wake you. But you must have people in your life for that to happen.

“The heartfelt counsel of a friend is as sweet perfume and incense” Proverbs 27:9

God has a plan for your life, and as a believer in Christ, you have made a commitment to follow him and live for Him. You will undoubtedly fall asleep. You get lulled away by busyness, lust, selfishness, and ignorance. But God will not give up on you, and His Spirit within you will continue to speak to your heart, nudging you to wake up. The fellowship He intended for you to live in can be the very lifeline that you need.

How about you? Who in your life will “wake you up” when your faith falls asleep?

“So be on your guard, not asleep like the others. Stay alert and be clearheaded.” ~ 1 Thessalonians 5:6

Photo 1 credit: Google Images

Photo 2 credit: Google Images