Earlier today I tweeted a Myth vs Fact (MvF) that went like this, "Myth: Zombies attack anything that moves. Fact: Zombies choose their targets with care and then use precision munitions." I'd like to talk about that a bit more because last night I had a proper nightmare for the first time since I was 8 years old.
When I was little I suffered from nightmares all the time. Hardly a night would go by when I wouldn't have one. Of course back then my dreams were full of vampires and werewolves and other such monsters. Even awake I was afraid that the figures in my nightmares might suddenly become real and come after me. I was scared at the prospect of sleeping and if I had a nightmare I would find myself getting up in the night and making my way to my parents bedroom. Needless to say this got old for them really quick and soon I wasn't allowed to sleep with them anymore but that didn't stop me from sleeping on their floor just inside or just outside the door to their room. Something about their physical presence made me feel safer and I could get some sleep. Within a year of accepting Jesus the nightmares had stopped. I had learned that, as 1 Timothy 1:7 so eloquently puts it, "God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity but of power, love, and self-discipline." This isn't to say that I never had a bad dream again, just not the full-blown nightmares I used to have.
Fast forward 30 years and I am a father myself and have dealt with my children having bad dreams so I can understand a bit of what my parents went through but I can honestly say that I understood what they were going through. Now, my kids have never actually said they had nightmares, just bad dreams so I'll have to take them at their word and the few times I did ask them to go back to their beds they did while when I was little I would stand there and cry and go sleep outside my parents door. For the last 30 years I have not had a nightmare.....until last night.
As I said before, when I was a kid my nightmares were inhabited by monsters of myth and legend. Last night it was populated by demons and pedophiles intent on destroying my children. I cannot even describe what I felt in my dream when I asked my youngest if the bad person had "touched" her and she answered yes. Just writing about it now makes me want to weep with sorrow and anger at even the thought of that happening, just like I did last night when I was startled awake by this nightmare.
I believe that our enemy will use whatever tactics he can to separate us from our Father and fear is one of his strongest weapons. Sometimes he uses it as a hammer and beats down our defenses until we live in a constant state of fear, much like I did as a kid. When that doesn't work then he switches tactics. Our inner zombie, ever seeking our destruction, knows us as well as anyone and is more than willing to help the prince of this world try to bring us back where it can have control over us. So it switches to precision munitions. I.e. it hits us where it hurts the most. In my case it's the fear of not being able to protect my daughters from those who would prey upon them and steal their innocence.
When I awoke I immediately began praying and reciting 1 Tim 1:7 and within a few minutes had recovered sufficiently to attempt going back to sleep. Even so, I continued to wake throughout the night for fear that maybe it hadn't been a dream. Man, am I tired but in the light of day I see that my God has kept my children safe and I trust that He will continue to do so.
Good analogies. Interesting topic.
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