Video 4A: Better Sleep Begins Before Bedtime

Hi, I am Haley Steiner, a CLI presenter.

This course is taught by Rev. Henry Reyenga, Founder of Christian Leaders Institute, and Attorney/Pastor Brian DeCook.

Better sleep does not begin only when you lie down at night. Your organic body has been responding throughout the day to light, darkness, movement, food, activity, stress, relationships, and the time you got out of bed.

You are not a sleep machine with an on-and-off switch. You are an organic human—an embodied soul with spiritual and physical life before God.

God created the world with rhythms. Genesis describes evening and morning, light and darkness, activity and rest. Human beings were not designed for endless wakefulness, constant productivity, or continuous stimulation. We were created as dependent creatures who need daily patterns of work, nourishment, relationship, movement, worship, and rest.

One of the strongest signals your body receives is light. Morning and daytime light help the body recognize that the active part of the day has begun. Darkness and lower evening light help signal that the day is ending.

This does not mean everyone needs expensive lamps, special glasses, or a perfect morning routine. When it is safe and realistically possible, you might open a curtain, sit near a window, step outside, walk to work, pray on a porch, or spend a few minutes in daylight.

Movement also supports the organic body. Regular activity can help build healthy sleep pressure—the natural drive for sleep that generally increases while you are awake.

Movement does not have to mean a gym membership or an intense workout. Walking, gardening, household work, stretching, carrying groceries, playing with children, or doing physical work may all be forms of embodied activity.

The goal is not to exhaust yourself so that you collapse. The goal is to live actively and appropriately within your health, ability, responsibilities, and circumstances.

Food and hydration also participate in your daily rhythm. Hunger, overeating, digestive discomfort, dehydration, and irregular schedules may affect how the body feels at night. There is no single perfect eating schedule for every culture, body, work shift, pregnancy, health condition, or family situation.

Christian stewardship is not bodily perfection. It is learning to care for the body God has given you without shame, obsession, or comparison.

First Corinthians 6:20 says, “Therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.”

This does not mean that poor sleep proves you have failed to honor God. Sleep may be affected by illness, pain, caregiving, work schedules, hormones, unsafe surroundings, or circumstances outside your control.

It means your body matters to God.

Today, notice one daytime pattern that may support your night. Perhaps it is receiving daylight, moving a little more, eating more regularly, or establishing a reasonably stable wake time.

Do not attempt to repair everything at once.

Receive your creaturely design. Support your body gently. Ask the Holy Spirit for wisdom, and take one faithful step.