By Benescke Janse van Rensburg

During 1942 less than 8% of the population slept only six or less hours a night. Today, this is the case for one in two Americans. Thesestats were discovered by Dr. Matthew Walker, director of the Center for Human Sleep Science at the University of California during his four and a half years of research for his book, Why We Sleep. He also came to the conclusion: If we truly knew the connection between sleep loss and, among others, Alzheimer's disease, cancer, diabetes, obesity and poor psychological health, we would prioritize to get enough sleep.

This made me think. Suppose we do a research study with two groups of believers. Group 1 consisting of believers who spend time with God daily and regularly read theBible and Group 2 who know God, but only uses Him like a spare wheel because they believe their lives are "just too busy" for a regular quiet time. Could there be any connection between the time spent with God and the amount of peace these believers experience in their lives – especially in difficult times? 

It is only in God's presence that we get to know Him. He never changes. If we truly know Him, we can experience peace in our hearts amidst difficult times. However, if we only know about Him, but don’t make time to get to know Him personally, we will easily be caught up with fear in difficult times. We may pray desperately, but still doubt if He trulyhears us.

In Philippians 4: 6-7 we read: “Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. ⁷ Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.” Also in Psalm 37: 5 we read:“Commit everything you do to the Lord. Trust him, and he will help you.”

My conclusion is this: Make time for God. There is definitely a connection between time spent with Him and the amount of peace weexperience in our hearts. Doing this, we will be able to experience that peace in the midst of a difficult period in our marriage, our health, in the workplace or even in our country. He remains the Creator who holds everything in His hands. God bless. 

Father God, thank you for being with me during every difficult situation. Help meto keep my eyes on You so I can live with total peace too. I ask this in the Name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

• Assignment: Start to set a reminder on your phone. Even if you spent only 5 minutes or 10 minutes in a day with God, you will experience the difference.

• Feedback: Share your testimony of God's breakthroughs in your life or give feedback at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. I would like to hear from you. Benescke