A Dream I Had Last Night

Last night I had a dream that was incredibly vivid and really challenged me. I can't even describe to you just how real this dream felt. I often dream at night, but usually I either don't remember my dreams or they are not really that important. I thought I would share this dream, though, as it seemed especially important. The dream actually reminded me of Daniel 3 when Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego refused to worship the golden image and were thrown into the fiery furnace as a result.

Here is my description of the dream from my memory:

The first thing I remember is that I found myself either traveling or living in a country where Christians were being persecuted and killed for refusing to worship either an appointed image or person. The law in this country was that every person must fall down and worship this different god or image at certain times when there would be a call to worship. I did not see an actual image to worship, but in my dream I saw people all around me falling down and worshiping at the call to worship. I knew that anyone who refused would be killed by the sword, beheaded immediately by men riding on horses. The part I really remember is brief. I heard the call to worship and saw hundreds of people around me falling down to worship this false god. I became nervous, knowing that as a Christian I must not worship a false god, but also knowing that I would be killed if I refused. I remember struggling a bit with this as I saw everyone prostrating themselves at the call to worship. I knew I could not deny the one true God and my spirit became strengthened as I refused to bow. I remember seeing 3 or 4 others in front of me who also refused to bow. There we were, only a handful of us standing while the hundreds around us were on the ground worshiping a false god. Then, I saw the men riding on horses with their swords galloping toward us to kill us. That is when I woke up.

This dream really struck a chord in me. I can't really explain it, but it just really challenged me and got me thinking. Here in North America, most of us don't face this kind of persecution where we could be killed for our faith and face that reality daily. It got me thinking about whether or not I would be obedient to God even when facing the sword. I don't know what it is like to have to live in a place where, constantly, my faith in Christ could cost me my life, but I hope I would be obedient to God even in the face of persecution. This dream reminded me to pray for the persecuted church.

This dream brought to mind the passage in John 21 where Jesus asks Peter 3 times, do you love Me? We need to ask ourselves - Do we love Christ? Do we really love Christ? Are we willing to be obedient to Him even unto death?