Being Comfortable With Who We Are

As I’ve mentioned in a few previous posts, Terri and I have been focusing more on the quality of our sleep this year. For years, I got by on very little sleep—like 5-6 hours a night. As we’ve focused on our sleep, this has changed dramatically. I am now getting 8-9 hours of sleep every night, with rare exceptions. And I feel marvelous as a result. Really, I do.

If you’ve followed my blog in 2025, you know that this is a season of transition, recovery, and healing for me, as I have dealt with complicated bereavement and I am learning to cope with my post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Erratic sleep and nightmares are part of PTSD, and I still struggle with them, as I shared in a recent post.

It’s all kinda weird but I am growing more comfortable with who I am in this season of life. It’s certainly not how I expected things to be or who once I dreamt of being. Yet, here I be.

Being comfortable with who we are means we stop chasing the person we think we should be or that others expect us to be. Instead, we learn to rest in the person God is shaping us to become. And yes, at 60, I am still becoming. God is still working on me after all these years.

For me, it means accepting that my mind sometimes wrestles in the dark, but also celebrating that my body is finally getting the rest it’s long needed.

I am learning that being comfortable with who I am doesn’t mean I have everything figured out. Certainly not. However, it means I’m honest about where I am, thankful for the progress I’ve made, and hopeful for where God is leading me next. Trusting God for what’s next is a big part of the process.

Psalm 4:8 NLT

In peace I will lie down and sleep, for you alone, O Lord, will keep me safe.

Rest is not just physical; it’s spiritual. On nights when sleep is interrupted by restlessness or haunted by nightmares, I find comfort in knowing God watches over me. I don’t have to fight to prove myself or be someone I’m not. Instead, I can learn to be comfortable with who I am: a child of God, loved and held, even in the uncertainty of the dark and unknown.

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A Prayer of Rest and Renewal

Gracious Heavenly Father, Lord we come before You with great humility and awe, grateful that You know us fully and love us completely. Thank You for the gift of rest, for quiet nights, and for the healing that comes when we lay our burdens at Your feet. When rest feels far away, please calm our racing hearts. When nightmares disturb us, comfort us with Your presence. Teach us to be comfortable with who we are in You: beloved, forgiven, and safe. May sleep be a sanctuary and allow our waking hours to be a testimony of Your grace, mercy, and love. In the precious name of Jesus we do pray. Amen.

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Perhaps you’re walking through grief, trauma, or are just cracking under the wear and tear of life. Here is your permission to rest. Not the shallow rest that comes from distraction, but the deep, soul-rest that reminds us we are human, we are loved, and God is still working on us. We are still becoming.

Friend, it’s up to you to care for your soul. No one can do that for you, other than you. It’s time to quit watering what drains you.

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Until my next post…

Be salty, stay lit.

Rainer Bantau —The Devotional Guy™

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