Brennan Manning, who struggled with alcohol his whole life, has an evergreen reminder for ALL of us.
“There’s a buzzword within the AA fellowship: HALT.
It’s a reminder not to let yourself get too hungry, angry, lonely, or tired, or you’ll be especially vulnerable to that first drink.”
I think that goes for depression and anxiety, as well. If you get angry, guess what follows? If you get lonely, guess. Tired, guess.
And the especially hard thing? Baseline depression and anxiety makes you more angry, lonely, and sleep-deprived. Which makes the cycle worse.
Speaking of blessed sleep, I once heard John Piper say something to the effect of: you won’t go far down the path of sanctification without getting enough sleep.
Another way of saying that: If you stay up all night praying, you’ll probably be miserable company the next day.
