Sleep envy. Whoever heard of such? Silentnight, a British bed maker, commissioned a recent poll that identified the malady among women.

Four thousand women responded to questions about their sleep habits.

The poll found women took longer to drop off to sleep than their men-folk. The ladies, it seems, don’t appreciate that. So jealous are some women of their husband’s sleep that they resort to unkind tactics.

Some females admit to pinching, “accidental” rib pokes, or obsessive tossing and turning in attempts to wake their husbands. Who can blame them? When you are miserable, you want to share it with the ones you love.

Jealousy extends beyond the bed in our world. In fact, the Lord identified envy as one of the “Big Ten.” He said, “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife or his male servant or his female servant or his ox or his donkey or anything that belongs to your neighbor.” (Exodus 20:17)

Now we can suggest an addendum to the 10th commandment — “You shall not covet your spouse’s sound sleep.” A desire for the possessions or qualities of others is not limited to sleepy heads.

Do you find yourself feeling miserable when you see someone else with something you want? You think about how “smooth” you would look in that snazzy car your friend drives. You wish you could whack a golf ball like your playing partner. Or you just can’t believe that homely guy on the other side of the restaurant has such a beautiful lady at his table.

Perhaps we would all be better off if we realized how blessed we are with what we’ve got.

Gain the satisfaction that God’s provision is enough. That truth can make you sleep better at night.

Darryl Wood is the pastor of First Baptist Church Vincent. He can be reached at Dwood132@fbcvincent.org.