Day 1: Sleep-Deprived? Finding God’s Daily Grace - iBelieve Truth: A Devotional for Women - September 24, 2025
Scripture: “Because of the Lord’s great love, we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.” {Lamentations 3:22–23}
Fake News!
One of my favorite things in this season of being a grandma is being able to FaceTime my 2-year-old granddaughter, Selah. During breakfast, several mornings a week, my daughter will FaceTime me, prop the phone up on her kitchen table, and we will talk about how things are going and what we have planned for the day.
Recently, during one of our morning chats, I asked Selah, “Did you sleep okay last night?” “Yeah!” She said, “And mamma slept okay, and Ava slept okay!” I heard my daughter laugh, and then she exclaimed, “THAT’S FAKE NEWS!” Apparently, her sweet, 6-month-old daughter, Ava, had been awake a few times the night before, and Brianna was already exhausted even though it was only breakfast time!
My heart goes out to Brianna as I watch her care for her two little ones while sleep-deprived. I do what I can to help, but sleep is not something I can give her! This is something she must get through, and it is one of the hardest parts of motherhood.
No matter what season of motherhood you find yourself in, interrupted sleep is a part of the picture! Even though my children are married with their own babies, I still find myself daily looking for an opportunity to nap! It just comes with the territory of being a mom, and it can leave you feeling like you are running on empty, and the capacity to get things done that you once had has disappeared and is nowhere to be found!
Even though, as moms, we can’t always count on getting the sleep we need, there is something we CAN count on in every season. It is a promise that keeps hope alive and helps us to do what we need to do, one day at a time: “His mercies are
new every morning” (Lamentations 3:23). Those mercies are new even when we haven’t slept well the night before.
The God Who Never Sleeps Gives Us Grace in Time of Need
It’s completely normal to desire and need a good night’s sleep. There’s nothing better than waking up after a solid 8 hours of rest, feeling refreshed and ready to face the day. But isn’t it amazing to think about how God doesn’t sleep? Psalm 121:4 tells us that “Indeed, he who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.’ What a comfort it is to remember that when you finally collapse into bed after a long day, God remains awake, attentive, and sovereign. God is awake with you when you’re awake in the quiet hours of night, comforting a toddler or feeding an infant, or even waiting for your teenager to come home safely.
Motherhood is just one of the ways God helps us see our human limitations. We can’t do it all, no matter what our culture tells us. We can’t get everything done, stay awake all night, and always be patient with our precious family members. But those limitations can be used to point us to the One who experiences no limits. When we are weak, He is strong. He holds everything together.
2 Corinthians 12:9–10 reminds us of this reality: “But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. Therefore, I will boast more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For Christ's sake, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”
In our weakness, He is strong. But we must turn our eyes to Him and cry out to Him. We must choose to depend on Him, one day at a time. In the same way that Israel depended on God for manna, when they wandered in the wilderness, one day at a time. God gives us grace one day at a time. He doesn’t equip us with the strength we’ll need for tomorrow, next week, or ten years. He gives us the grace we need for today.
When you’re sleep-deprived and dreading the day ahead, you don’t need to figure out the whole week. You just need grace for this morning. This moment. This hour. And God promises that His mercies will meet you there.
Sleep Deprivation and the Gospel
The gospel is not about pulling ourselves together but admitting our need and leaning into Christ. The motherhood journey teaches us that we can’t do any of it alone. We need help! Needing help does not equal being a failure, but admitting that we are weak. We were not created to be self-sufficient.
No. This is not failure. It is an invitation to rely on Jesus for strength, find His grace sufficient in your weakness, and learn dependence on the Father. Your exhaustion is an invitation to experience the strength and sufficiency of Christ.
What Can We Do?
- Start with Prayer. Before your feet hit the floor, whisper a simple prayer: Lord, I need Your new mercies today.
- Find One Verse to Hold. Write Lamentations 3:22–23 on a sticky note and place it where you’ll see it—on the coffee maker, the bathroom mirror, or even taped to the baby monitor.
- Release Tomorrow. When worries about the future creep in, remind yourself: God has not asked me to carry tomorrow yet. He’s promised grace for today.
- Celebrate Small Mercies. Notice the little gifts: a hot shower, a child’s long nap, grabbing a cup of coffee from Starbucks when your husband watches the kids, so you pick up the groceries yourself. These are glimpses of God’s compassion breaking into your day.
Something to Think About
- When you are sleep deprived, what lies are you most tempted to believe (e.g., I can’t do this, I’m a failure, I’ll never make it)?
- How does the truth of God’s new mercies each morning reshape how you view the hardest of mornings?
- What is one small practice you can begin tomorrow morning to remind yourself of His faithfulness?
Let’s Pray
Father, you know I am tired. You see, the sleepless nights make my days more challenging. Thank You that Your compassion never fails, and Your mercies are new every morning. Teach me to depend on You for today’s grace, not tomorrow’s challenges. When I feel empty, fill me with Your Spirit. When I feel weak, remind me that Your strength is made perfect in weakness. Help me trust that you are holding me even in my most sleep-deprived moments. Amen.
Photo Credit: ©Getty Images/Liliya Krueger
Related Resource: Instead of Doing More This Summer, Maybe You Need to Do Less
If you've been feeling tired, overwhelmed, depleted, or just quietly wondering where God is in the middle of a very full life — this episode is for you. And honestly? It might be for me too, because I'm recording this in one of those seasons myself.
Today we're doing something a little different. Instead of going deep in a passage, we're talking about what to do when deep feels like too much — when you need less, not more. Specifically, I'm walking you through one of my favorite practices for weary seasons: handwriting scripture.
Not typing it. Not scrolling past it. Actually writing it out, slowly, in your own hand — because something happens in your brain when you do that. The words land differently. They go deeper. And over time, they become part of that personal library of God's voice that the Holy Spirit can pull from when you need it most. That's what Psalm 119:11 means when it says I have hidden your word in my heart — it's scripture moving into your long-term memory, where it lives and stays even when you haven't opened your Bible in weeks.
I'm sharing the five verses I wrote out for myself today — and why each one hit me fresh even though I've known some of them for years. This episode is part of our How to Study the Bible Podcast, a show that brings life back to reading the Bible and helps you understand even the hardest parts of Scripture. If this episode helps you know and love God more, be sure to follow the How to Study the Bible Podcast on Apple or Spotify so you never miss an episode!
