Finding Purpose in Insomnia

So last night was another night where I couldn't sleep. For that matter, a particularly sleepless night. I went to bed with a heavy heart - thinking about so many matters affecting me, my daughter yet to be born, my family, others that I love. I found myself trying to sort through all sorts of situations and judge what the best thing to do, all, mind you, with a brain groggy with tiredness and compounded with the fatigue of pregnancy. And then I was reminded of something from A.W. Tozer's "The Pursuit of God":

"We are often hindered from giving up our treasures to the Lord out of fear for their safety. This is especailly true when those treasures are loved relatives and friends. But we need have no such fears. Our Lord came not to destroy but to save. Everything is safe which we commit to Him, and nothing is really safe which is not so committed."

I am thinking of something from the first Harry Potter book, which will probably ruin this post for some of you out there, but it works for me so I'm going to use it. Hagrid tells Harry that there's no safer place to keep something than Gringotts Bank, except perhaps Hogwarts. I find that I so often settle for Gringotts constantly, forgetting that Hogwarts is even an option when it comes to protecting what I love.
I have an ongoing battle with anxiety. Lately this has been really evident as I worry about the impending delivery of my baby, about my parents moving even further away than they have been living from me, about jobs and other situations for family and friends who are struggling, about a friend who is dying and the beautiful family she will leave behind her. And I forget that I have the awesome privilege, that God Himself has invited us to cast all of our cares upon Him.
Last night I lay awake thinking about how my dad's heart could not possibly stand up to the beating it takes to work an incessant 70 hour week at his age with his condition. And I remembered that passage from Tozer - about everything that we commit to God is really safe, and anything we don't isn't. And I committed my dad to God, asking Him to strengthen His heart and to provide him with peace and comfort and everything he needs to make it through this time, including the knowledge that for whatever reason, this is where God has him for now and he can rely on God to get him through. And this morning, after getting a few winks, I made sure my dad knew that I had done that - I valued him enough to put him somewhere I knew he was completely safe.
And one by one, I plan to cast my cares on God, because He cares for me. I encourage you to do the same - there ain't no place safer, not even Hogwarts. :)