I’m sitting in my chair at my bedside at 2 a.m. because, once again, I am wide awake.

Insomnia has plagued me for 30 years. I’ll be tired physically, mentally and emotionally and unable to fade away into sleep.

I try reading. I get just a couple of pages into a book that I have found very interesting before I realize I have no clue what I’ve read. I put the paperback aside.

I check all my portable electronics to see if they are charged. They are. I rearrange the items on my bookshelf.

I decide to watch Netflix, but my tablet needs to update practically every bit of software on it. Looks like it’ll be tied up for a long while.

I play a couple of games on my phone but just can’t get into them. I say another prayer and lie back down, and the soft whirring of the fan and my wife’s rhythmic breathing — instead of calming and lulling — seem way too loud.

Finally, I wake up and realize I’ve slept. Hallelujah!

How long have I slept? About an hour and a half. Thankfully, this time — and the next half dozen before time to arise — I am able to fall asleep more easily.

I find myself stressing about things I cannot control when it’s time to focus on rest. I cling to worry and anxiety, as carefree as I try to be, and as I sometimes come across.

Scriptures repeatedly tell believers not to worry, not to be anxious, not to be concerned with the things of tomorrow when God is able to provide and willing to do so.

He has proven himself over and over for time immemorial. 

Commands like “Be still” are harder for me most days than any command to “go” or “do.”

But then anxiety jumps in to drag me back there, too.

Psalm 23, arguably the most famous and beloved poem/song in the Bible, does not casually, unknowingly say, “He makes me lie down in green pastures.”

Sometimes God has to make us rest. We have a tendency as humans in general to want to be constantly busy. Even the laziest of us all are usually involved in something.

But “busy-ness” doesn’t always get us the best results along the best path in the best time, et cetera, et cetera.

Even if it’s “good” things. I need to be careful to be careful with my time and work and energies. We all should.

Guard your time, your heart, your mind, your spirit — all these things are important.

That’s all for now. I’m going to bed early tonight.

Unless there’s a new episode of one of my favorite series on Netflix.

I need a nap.

Lifestyles editor Brett Campbell can be reached at brett.campbell@dailyleader.com.