About 15 years ago, I awoke suddenly after having an extremely vivid and detailed dream. I won't share the bulk of it but will focus on describing the cliffhanger ending.
After I had observed a ferociously aggressive attack on a loved one, I entered a lush flower garden. I looked down and saw something that looked beautiful, black, soft, and shiny amid the thick foliage. I was fascinated by it and immediately leaned down to touch it. But, right before making contact, I suddenly realized it was only a tiny portion of a gigantic black snake winding throughout the floor of the garden so that it was like a blanket.
I panicked and ran out to tell the church leaders in the room next to the garden.
"You have to tell everyone there's a gigantic snake out there!" I screamed.
The woman standing there seemed incapacitated, with huge sweat beads on her forehead. Although she appeared to be concerned, she was somehow paralyzed. Then another leader walked out into the open. I yelled out the same thing:
"You have to tell everyone there's a gigantic snake out there!"
He was smiling and laughing and seemed to be completely unable to comprehend what I was saying no matter how loudly I yelled.
I was baffled by their lack of responsiveness and exacerbated by their lack of concern and compassion for those who would be entering the garden at any moment – even as I stood there screaming at them for help.
At the time of the dream, it was very early in my walk with the Lord, and I can’t say I understood what it all meant. The intensity, however, was undeniable. And recently, it has become a real and present part of life.
Deception is rampant in today’s culture – always underlying, waiting, seeking to devour. As believers, we are of a different kingdom, but we are living in the world where deception is covering its surface.
When I was a little girl growing up in Louisiana, I loved black, fuzzy caterpillars. I would lie in the grass and let the little creatures crawl on my arms. I found them fascinating – their shiny, soft, black bristled little bodies crawling along and tickling my skin.
What I saw in the garden reminded me of one of those beloved, harmless little creatures. I felt that same reminiscent curiosity and captivation. That’s how evil becomes lovely to the eye. We are presented with only a very small and distorted portion of the reality. We are so quickly and thoroughly enamored by the carefully controlled presentation that we fail to see the big picture – the actual truth.
It’s difficult and unpopular to be the one who warns. This is especially true when people choose to believe the mass of dangerous evil is a harmless thing to enjoy. And they get mad at the person who tells them what it really is. As a result, far too few church leaders are warning the bride and bride-to-be of the danger under our feet.
If we really saw the emergency that exists in the spiritual realm, we would not hesitate. If, in response to our warning, others get angry with us, we must realize they are really angry with the truth itself. The anger is with Christ Himself. And Christ warned us about this phenomenon: "If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before it hated you” (John 15:18, NASB).
Hebrews 3:13 (NLT) says to "warn each other every day, while it is still ‘today,’ so that none of you will be deceived by sin and hardened against God.”
