Ep 151 | Cover to Cover 30 | Pastor Chris Ryan | July 26, 2026

Hello, this is Pastor Ryan Clark.

You are listening to a message from St.

John's Lutheran Church in Buffalo, Minnesota.

Oh Lord, open my lips, and my mouth shall declare your praises in the name of Jesus.

Amen.

Look at that cutie right there.

It is hard to believe that photo is now over five years old.

That is a picture of my oldest son, Nathan, taken shortly after he was born.

The name Nathan, by the way, it's a Hebrew name, it means, gift from God.

And Nathan certainly has been a gift from God to us.

From the very moment he was born, he has brought us, oh, so much joy.

Of course, along with any phases that kids go through, that newborn phase, along with having some joys, it had some challenges as well.

One particularly challenging season for us occurred around the time that Nathan was two months old.

Right around that time, my wife Catherine went back to work and, well, no one was happy about that.

At that point, her job involved her working straight nights, five nights a week, which means it became primarily my responsibility to get Nathan to sleep at night, and then to get him back to sleep again once he would inevitably wake up.

What I found out very quickly is that I had greatly misunderstood what that phrase sleeping like a baby meant.

You know, silly me, I thought that it meant gentle, restorative, peaceful sleep.

What it actually meant was waking up every two hours shrieking, and then spending upwards of an hour going back and forth between hyperventilating and hopeless sobbing, and I'm just talking about myself trying to get Nathan back to sleep.

He did have some theatrics of his own, by the way.

Hey, look at that.

There's a nice photo from that season of life right there.

Things were going well, no doubt.

And St.

John's family, I would try everything in my power to get him back to sleep.

I'd do all the stuff you know you're supposed to do, right? I'd feed him, I'd hold him, I'd change him.

I'd even put him in that stroller and take him for a nice 2:00 AM stroll around the neighborhood.

But nothing seemed to regularly work.

But don't you worry.

After a couple months of the failures, we finally figured out a solution to help everyone rest better.

It was simply this.

My wife Catherine, she stopped working the night shift and started working the day shift.

And from that point on, everyone in the Ryan household slept better.

Well, except for maybe Catherine.

Hey, if you've been following along in our two-year Bible read-through, you'll know that we have been spending a whole lot of time in the Book of Psalms, haven't we? Well, this week we came across one of my absolute favorite Psalm, Psalm 121.

And if you look closely at this Psalm, you'll see that it's all about someone who stays awake so that we all can get that gentle, peaceful, restorative sleep that we all need.

And boy, could we use better sleep.

Anyone here ever have trouble sleeping at all? Raise those hands.

Look at that, there's two hands in the air up here.

Ah.

If you have trouble sleeping, know that you are not alone.

According to a CDC, Center of Disease Control study, only 38% of adults are getting enough sleep at night.

By the way, Minnesotans, we're almost the best at something, the best at being the worst at something.

According to that study, we are the second worst sleepers out of all the states, behind just Vermont.

You say, "Pastor Ryan, after the night of sleep I had last night, we might be in first place right now.

We might have passed them right around 3:00 AM as I was tossing and turning."

If that is you, and you have trouble sleeping at night regularly, I hope our verses of the day speak to you.

Our highlighted verses of the day, they're from Psalm 121:3-4, and they say about God that, "He will not let your foot slip.

Psalms 121:3–4

He who watches over you will not slumber.

Indeed, he who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep."

Say, "Pastor Ryan, it sounds like God is having as much trouble sleeping at night as I am."

Well, that's not exactly what that verse means.

It simply means this.

It's an old Victor Hugo quote.

"Sleep in peace, God is awake."

In other words, you can rest easy knowing that God is taking care of, and has taken care of, those things that keep us up at night so often.

And when it comes to the non-physical things that keep us awake at night, they can basically be boiled down into two categories: worries about our past and worries about our future.

54% of people actually say they lose sleep regularly over replaying the way things went that day, usually the mistakes they made.

We're not usually replaying the highlight reel at night, are we? It's the low light reel.

It's the mistakes, it's the bloopers, it's the sins.

And by the way, notice that's just the previous day's mistakes.

Imagine how big that number gets beyond 54 if we span out to two days, three days, a week, a month, a year, a lifetime.

On the flip side, 41% of people say they lose sleep over a stressor that's coming up the next day.

And note, that's just the next day.

Once again, imagine how big that number gets when we expand it beyond a day to two days, three days, a week, a month, a year.

By the way, the most common stressor that people lose sleep over regarding their future is finances.

78% of people have admitted, that's the key word, they've admitted to it, to losing sleep over financial concerns and job security related stressors.

That's over three out of four people that lose sleep thinking about their finances, right? But I'll say it again, God wants us to rest easy knowing that He is in charge, He is in control, He's watching over us, and has taken care of and is taking care of those things that keep us awake at night.

In fact, not only does He want us to sleep, He actually grants us sleep.

The Psalmist says in Psalm 127:2 that God grants sleep to those He loves, and He loves you, which means He grants you sleep.

Psalms 127:2

It's a really good thing to think, if you are someone who struggles to fall asleep at night, that eventually it's going to happen.

It always does.

I was thinking that last night as I was tossing and turning a little bit.

I'm going to fall asleep.

God grants sleep to those He loves, and He loves me, so I will fall asleep.

That's why the Psalmist says elsewhere, "In peace I will lie down and sleep.

For you alone, Lord, make me dwell in safety."

I will lie down.

I will go to sleep in peace.

Remember that when you're struggling.

You always fall asleep.

It's going to happen.

It's a very calming thought.

Now, beyond that, there's a couple specific thought processes I want you to walk through if you find yourself falling into either one of these categories here regularly.

If you're amongst the 54% of people who say they lose sleep over replaying those mistakes, those sins from the previous day, the first thing I want you to think as you're struggling that night is this: God's grace, it works every single shift.

What do I mean by that? Well, simply put, Jesus didn't just die on the cross for the sins that you committed way back in the past.

His grace in your life is present.

He died for the sins that you committed this very day.

His grace covers over the weeks, the months, the years.

It's a 24/7, 365 kind of deal.

His grace applies to the sins you committed during the day.

It applies to the evening when you're struggling with the burden of sin and you're replaying those mistakes again and again and again, and it applies to the night when you wake up and start what you might call that stinking thinking and you can't fall back asleep.

And by the way, when you're struggling with unforgiveness for yourself at night and it's keeping you awake, you know you're paying a price that God doesn't require you or even want you to pay.

Jesus already paid that price, right? He went to the cross with his perfect life and died on it just for you, knowing every sin that you'd ever commit, not just the ones in the ancient past, but the ones that you committed today.

That's why it says in Romans 5:8 that, "God shows his love for us in this, while we were still sinners, Christ died for us."

Romans 5:8

He died knowing each and every sin that you would commit, and he goes to the cross willingly to do just that just for you.

And he doesn't want you to hang onto that guilt at night and stay awake over that and pay a price that he already paid for you.

He wants you to bring those sins to him and live out the words of 1 John 1:9.

1 John 1:9

It says, "If we confess our sins, God is faithful and just to forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness."

Because of the blood of Jesus, when we confess our sins to God, they are forgiven.

No ifs, ands, or buts there, right? Because of the blood of Jesus, according to the psalmist in Psalm 103, as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.

And the east and the west, they are pretty far apart, aren't they? And when you do that, when you go to God, confess your sins to him and receive your forgiveness that he wants to give to you, along with that forgiveness, you get a clean conscience.

And according to Proverbs 3:24, when we have a clean conscience, it says, "When you lie down, you will not be afraid.

Proverbs 3:24

When you lie down, your sleep will be sweet."

So if that is you and you struggle to sleep at night because you're replaying all those mistakes, bloopers, sins, this is the process I want you to walk through.

And by the way, take note, it's probably gonna involve you memorizing some verses and then maybe meditating on them a little bit, and thinking about them as you go to sleep.

The first thing I want you to remember is this: I will fall asleep.

God grants sleep to those he loves.

He loves me, so in peace I will lie down, I will sleep.

It is going to happen.

And then as you get tempted to start replaying those sins over and over again, think about Romans 5:8.

Romans 5:8

Remember that Jesus died for that sin that you committed today, knowing that you would commit it, and he doesn't want you to hang onto that guilt, he wants you to bring it to him.

So do that.

Go to him, confess your sins, receive that forgiveness he wants to give you, have your transgressions removed from you as far as the east is from the west, and then with that clean conscience, receive the sweet sleep that he promises to those who are forgiven.

That's what I want you to do if you are struggling to awake at night with sins and mistakes from the previous day.

Now, on the flip side, there's a little bit different of a process if you're in that 41% of people who say they lose sleep over a stressor that's coming up the next day.

The first verse I want you to think of if that is you is Psalm 50:10, where God says, "For every animal of the forest is mine, and the cattle on a thousand hills is mine."

Psalms 50:10

That means with whatever you're stressed out about about your future, that the Lord can provide.

It's all his.

The cattle on a thousand hills are his.

He can provide for you.

You say, "Pastor Ryan, that's great, the cattle on a thousand hills is God, but sometimes it feels like I can't even afford a hamburger, let alone a steak.

So what do you have to say to that?" Well, this is what I have to say to that: not only can God provide, but he promises that he knows exactly what you need, and that he will provide.

Listen to what Jesus says in the Sermon on the Mount here in Matthew 6.

He says, "Therefore do not be anxious, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' Or 'What shall we wear?' For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all."

God knows exactly what you need, and he can provide, and best of all, he promises to provide.

Philippians 4:19, "And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus."

Philippians 4:19

And those are substantial riches, my friend.

When the Apostle Paul wrote these words, he had just gone through somewhat of a difficult season in his ministry.

It seems like finances were a little bit tight.

He needed some extra help to provide for his ministry, and then out of nowhere seemingly, it says that that church in Philippi, and these are Paul's words, provided amply for his financial needs.

And he says back to them, and to us through the pages of scripture, "Just like you provided for my needs, God is going to provide for your needs amply."

Now, will it always be our solution? Probably not.

As you heard us say from up here before, sometimes we pigeonhole God.

We say, "We need A or B," and He gives us C, right? And C a lotta times when we reflect on it is better than we could have ever asked for or imagined.

Will it be on our timeline? Probably not.

Like Pastor Clark talked about last week, sometimes we want God to speed up a little bit, don't we? But you can trust that God's timing, it's always perfect.

It's always better than our timing.

1 Peter 5:6-7 it says, "Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, so that at the proper time He may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on Him, because He cares for you."

1 Peter 5:6–7

God's timing, it's always proper.

It's always perfect, and He actually wants us to reflect in our lives on all the times His timing has been perfect just for you, just for me.

And as we reflect on all of those times that His timing was absolutely perfect, He then wants us to take that worry that we have about our future that's keeping us up at night and cast that anxiety onto Him because He wants to take it because He loves you and He cares for you so much.

So if that is you, and it's worries about your future that are keeping you awake at night, this is the process I want you to walk through each and every night.

As you're tossing and turning, remember, you will fall asleep.

God grants sleep to those He loves, and He loves you, so in peace you will lie down.

You will sleep.

And then that anxiety that's keeping you up about your future, don't hang onto that.

Cast it onto Him and trust in His perfect, proper timing in your life.

And then remember, like Jesus says in Matthew 6, that God knows exactly what you need, so you don't have to worry.

Because best of all, He can provide and He will provide.

He will meet all your needs according to the riches and glory of Christ Jesus And by the way, it doesn't just have to be finances that we entrust over to God when it comes to worries about our future.

It can be just about anything.

Maybe it's a big to-do list that's keeping you awake at night.

Walk through that same exact process.

Maybe it's a situation with a loved one.

Walk through that same exact process.

Give that loved one over to him and trust in God's perfect and proper timing for them.

Remember that God knows exactly what they need too, so that you don't have to worry, and remember that you have a God that can provide, and he promises to provide And one final thought here actually as we get towards the end of this message.

I see that a few of you right now are really taking this message to heart.

You're practicing it already.

That's great.

So open those eyes, pay attention here because I think this is really, really practical.

It's a way to cast our anxieties onto God when we're struggling to sleep at night.

Someone on staff at St.

John shared this technique with me this week, and I have used it this very week.

I used it last night, and it helped me sleep a little better, I promise you that.

It's a visualization technique.

If you are struggling to sleep, what I want you to do is close your eyes, take some deep breaths, and then picture yourself crawling up onto your heavenly Father's lap.

That loving Father, picture Him wrapping His arms around you.

Lean back into Him, and then tell God what you need, and thank Him for all that He has done for you.

When you do that, the Bible promises peace, and peace leads to sleep, doesn't it? Tell God what you need, and thank Him for all that He has done for you.

Thank Him most of all for the blood of Jesus, right? Because of Jesus, you get an eternal relationship with God that starts now and lasts forever, one that's gonna lead you to experiencing perfect peace and rest one day in all eternity with God in heaven.

Tell God what you need, and thank Him for all that He has done for you.

And thank Him that because of Jesus, we can take these words to the bank.

We can know that God will not let your foot slip.

He who watches over you will not slumber.

Indeed, he who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.

St.

John's family, rest easy.

God is awake.

He is taking care of and has taken care of those things that keep us up at night.

May you rest easy because of Jesus.

In Jesus' name, Amen.

You've been listening to a sermon from St.

John's Lutheran Church in Buffalo, Minnesota.

If you would like more information about St.

John's and any of our ministries to our community and beyond, you can go to our website, www.

stjohnsbuffalo.

org.

Thank you and God bless you.