When we wake up

When we look at the world it sometimes seems that evil is in control of the world. Many countries have rulers that oppress Christians and Christianity. Others practice aggression against weaker counties around them. Large corporations are concerned only with making profits and don’t care how many people they hurt in the process. Lawbreakers seem to operate with impunity and those who have good lawyers seldom suffer the consequences of their actions. Even individuals who appear to be living decent, moral lives devote their lives to advancement in this world and give little or no thought to how God wants them to live.

This state of affairs will not go on forever.

And the multitude of all the nations that fight against Ariel,
    all that fight against her and her stronghold and distress her,
    shall be like a dream, a vision of the night.
As when a hungry man dreams, and behold, he is eating,
    and awakes with his hunger not satisfied,
or as when a thirsty man dreams, and behold, he is drinking,
    and awakes faint, with his thirst not quenched,
so shall the multitude of all the nations be
    that fight against Mount Zion. (Isaiah 29:7,8)

This world that we can perceive through our senses is only a small part of reality. When we die and are freed from the limitations of our physical senses we will experience that greater reality and our present lives will mean no more than the dreams we experience now.

This is the condition of those who have rejected God but what about those who believe in Jesus Christ and try to serve him faithfully? In many parts of the world Christians are exposed to constant danger, even the possibility of being killed for their faith. Those who do not face these dangers still have to live in a world which rejects God’s standards of good and evil. Someday we too will die and will then experience reality as it is. Our present suffering will be nothing more than an unpleasant dream that has ended.

In comparing our present lives to dreams I do not mean to imply that what we experience now is not real. Our present lives are probably the most important parts of our existence because the decisions we make now will determine our fates for all eternity.

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