The end

Twice now I've had dreams where I thought the world was ending.  Both were in completely different fashions, but both times by responses were the same.
Let me explain:
In the first instance, I was sitting in church listening to the message when I suddenly realized that God could take any of these people at any moment.  It was similar to a film I saw in which there was a loud *BOOM* and a flash of light and then, suddenly, there were only a few people left sitting in the church.  All the rest had been taken.  And those that were left began sobbing or just curled up into the fetal position to wait for what came next.  My first thought was, "I don't want to be left sobbing and wondering what more I could have done!"
In the second instance, Chris and I were driving somewhere in the U.S.  I'm not sure where.  But it was a dream so does it really matter?  We began looking at the clouds and how strange they all looked to us.  In a matter of seconds I could spot what I thought was the moon in the daytime.  I love it when you can see the moon during the day.  But suddenly, it became larger and larger and it didn't look like the moon but a reflection of the earth.  It became so big that I thought it would crash and land right where we were.  To our surprise it flew right over us and crashed into a nearby neighborhood, exploding into a gigantic cloud of fire and white smoke.  I thought it was the end.  I turned to Chris and told him I loved him and then closed my eyes.  I instantly thought, "I don't want to be left here, God please take me away!"  As it turns out, the second dream did not end there, but continued with us 'realizing' that it was a large meteor that had struck the earth and that we were going to be okay.  But I still had a nagging feeling that it was the start of something bigger, yet no one seemed to care any more or any less for their salvation.  It didn't seem to worry them one bit.  I couldn't understand how some could feel so at peace with being left after the world has perished.  We may all be dead, yes, but where we will all be going is not the same.  I had this weird view that after the meteor hit (and many more expected to after that) that the earth would be left in shambles.  That there would be no more water and everything would be dried up and desert-like with a few fires still burning out from the impact sites.  In essence I thought I was seeing a literal hell on earth.  And it scared me to be there.  I didn't want to risk being left to spend eternity there.
I know I am saved because I believe in Jesus and what his death represents for me.  He died for my sin so that I would not have to pay that debt upon my own death.  I mess up.  I make mistakes.  I still sin.  But I know that I am forgiven.  I know that I can call on the name of Jesus and ask for forgiveness 100 thousand times and he will still reach out to me.  Because he loves me.

Ignoring the Obvious

Luke 24:16 "But their eyes were kept from recognizing him."
On the road to Emmaus, two men were walking from Jerusalem and were talking about all of the events that had happened over the past weekend.  There were no big games on television, no bachelors chosen, and no school shootings in the news to speak of.  No, something much bigger had taken place and was the talk of the town.  Jesus had been crucified.  The man who claimed to be the one and only son of God.  The one who claimed he could rebuild the city in 3 days.  The one who said that the only way to the father in heaven was through him and him alone.  Yeah, that Jesus.  He had been killed and buried like a criminal.
And yet, when Jesus draws near to these men on their way to Emmaus, they do not recognize him.  In fact, when he asks them what they are talking about, they basically say, "Are you an idiot?  Have you not been around these last few days to see what's been going on?  Where have you been, under a rock?"  And yet, while they question him, they do not see that he is the man they are talking about!  He was right there, in their faces!  But they still didn't see him for who he truly was.


Too often, we get carried away in our troubles and turmoil, or even in our rejoice and celebration, that we don't realize what we have in front of us.  We are constantly asking for help, yet we forget that we are never without it.  
Isaiah 43:2-4 in The Message says,
"When you're in over your head, I'll be there with you. 
   When you're in rough waters, you will not go down.
When you're between a rock and a hard place, 
   it won't be a dead end—
Because I am God, your personal God, 
   The Holy of Israel, your Savior.
I paid a huge price for you: 
   all of Egypt, with rich Cush and Seba thrown in!
That's how much you mean to me! 
   That's how much I love you!
I'd sell off the whole world to get you back, 
   trade the creation just for you."

Is this for real?  When I am too scared to move on; when I am stressed beyond belief; when I am read to surrender, God will be with me.  Because He loves me so much, that He would even give up the life of his own son to be tortured, whipped, flogged, ridiculed, crushed, killed and buried at the hands of others.  All to ensure my eternity with Him.

And after knowing all of that, how could I not recognize the man that gave his life for me when he's standing in my face, asking me about these events that I am talking about?  Unfortunately, it's all too easy to be distracted in disbelief or in my own selfish issues.  I am too busy looking for Jesus in my troubles that I don't see him, right there beside me.  I know when I look in the past I can see that I was never left alone.  That I had a companion in him through my own "troubled waters."  But my goal is to not forget about that in the future.  Because I know I will never be without trouble.  And I will never not ask for help.  But I can't let myself forget that he is and always will be right there.  I just need to know how to recognize him.