When I was growing up, my parents regularly asked, “Did you sleep well?” They simply meant, “Do you feel rested?” Nowadays, it’s more complicated. For many people, their response would depend on “sleep duration,” “sleep quality,” “sleep phases,” “environmental factors,” and “lifestyle factors.” And the inquirer tends to be a smart device! 

That key measurement, “Do I feel rested?” can get lost in the flood of information, as a colleague’s friend found out. She often woke up feeling great, until her sleep tracker app brought her down by informing her that she hadn’t slept well. Finally, she realized she didn’t need this second opinion. She ditched the tracker and has felt better ever since.

Wanting to sleep well is a legitimate desire that predates our digital era, going back to biblical times and the promise that our “sleep shall be sweet” (Proverbs 3:24). But as this issue’s lead article suggests, having a restful night is less about understanding sleep and more about grasping that, as God’s unique expression, we have a spiritual nature that “restfully coexists” at all times with God (Lyle Young, “Sleeping well”). So, being rested is a natural outcome of living according to this spiritual nature.