Sleepwalking

"Mommy, does sleeping feel the way it was before we were born?"

Such questions are not uncommon from my seven-year-old Daniel, who ponders mysteries of science and soul in an often startling manner. Why did this question give me particular pause?

Since newborns can distinguish the voice of their own mothers, it stands to reason that we have cognitive abilities before birth. Then memories from the dark side of the womb elude us after birth, suggesting that fetal consciousness may indeed parallel the quasi-consciousness of sleep.

It has been asserted that dreams are real while we experience them. But the land of dreams offers more confusion than clarity, and journeys into egocentric subconscious more often than into divine revelation from another realm. If we are awakened by a dream, we are likely to find ourselves as initially bewildered as the infant who draws a first unfamiliar breath.

Perhaps the world of sleep and the world before birth are as much alike as they are similar to our life before Christ. We sleepwalk through that dark world as if we are its center, our souls clouded with the vague unease that another realm beckons us to awaken.

But all things that are exposed are made manifest by the light, for whatever makes manifest is light. Therefore He says:
"Awake, you who sleep,
Arise from the dead,
And Christ will give you light."
~ Ephesians 5:13-14 (NKJV)

Like natural birth, being born again in Jesus is The Great Awakening of our lives. Yet until the day we emerge from the womb of this world into The Other Side, we should anticipate smaller spiritual awakenings with as much expectation as we anticipate morning light when our head sinks into pillow.

The imperative to "arise from the dead" is the invitation both to made alive in Christ, and to continually emerge from darkness. Unless we actively search out the light of Christ on a daily basis, we are likely to travel through the Christian life as if sleepwalking.

"Watch therefore, for you do not know when the master of the house is coming—in the evening, at midnight, at the crowing of the rooster, or in the morning—lest, coming suddenly, he find you sleeping."
~ Jesus, Mark 13:35-36 (NKJV)

Comments are welcome (including respectful disagreement) and will receive a reply. You may also contact author via Twitter – @anne4JC or e-mail – buildingHisbody [plus] @gmail.com Copyright 2012, Anne Lang Bundy, all rights reserved.

Darkness

Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, "I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life."
~ John 8:12 (NKJV)

We humans become well-acquainted with darkness before we come to know light. Even our conception is wrapped in months of darkness before we are thrust into the world of light.

And so it seems fitting to peek at Darkness before examining Light—even if doing to discloses more than one might prefer to know.

But when I looked for good, evil came to me;
And when I waited for light, then came darkness.
~ Job 30:26 (NKJV)

My personal experience with Darkness began during 23 years of wandering through a spiritual haze, in search of the God Who hovered just outside my reach. My meeting with the Word of God was love at first sight, but three more years of flirting with Darkness prevented me from really knowing Light. The Lord does not tolerate divided allegiances, and waited to reveal Himself until He had all of me.

Since my surrender to God, His Light has dominated my life. I've remained well aware of the presence of Darkness in this world, and have made every effort to fearlessly be the Light of Jesus to everyone around me. In my lack of trepidation, I even prayed to better understand the Darkness against which we battle.

Be very careful of what you pray for.

God granted my prayer. My single, face-to-face encounter with the power of Darkness remains the most horrifying experience of my life. Though I emerged the victor, I'd swear that Darkness still nibbles at my heels, hungry for a rematch.

Then the fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast, and his kingdom became full of darkness; and they gnawed their tongues because of the pain.
~ Revelation 16:10 (NKJV)

In the last couple of days, I've studied the 220+ references to darkness in Scripture. Here are some notes.

Several verses make clear that God separates light from darkness on various physical and spiritual levels. God has even veiled Himself in darkness when separating Himself from unholiness. The phrase "shadow of death" occurs 19 times, usually accompanied by references to the dark.

The plague of darkness in Egypt is described as "darkness which may even be felt" (Exodus 10:21). When Revelation describes darkness descending and people gnawing their tongues in pain (above passage), I can imagine a deep darkness so horrific as to cause pain all by itself. The line which divides physical darkness and the power of Darkness is a fine one indeed.

Lastly, here are words and phrases associated with darkness in the Bible.

void, vanity, futile, foolish
gloom, blackness, silent
forsaken, alienated, desolate, wilderness
blindness, obscurity, hide, cover
wander, grope, stagger, bow down
stumble, slippery, unstable
scattered, forgetfulness, unfruitful
woe, sorrow, trouble, anguish, tribulation
sickness, pestilence, lays waste
disaster, destruction, curses, calamity
tempest, overflowing flood, utter end
hatred, persecuted, wrestle, bound in affliction
anger, thief, evil, way of the wicked
beasts creep about, consume
chased, overtake, pursue
captivity, prison, chains of darkness
crushed my life, long dead, cut off, grave
lowest pit, in the depths
bottomless pit, hell, smoke of the pit
outer darkness, weeping, "gnashing of teeth"
haunts of cruelty, power of Satan
horror, terrify, terrible

Next time: Light.

Comments are welcome and will receive a reply.
You may also contact author via Twitter – @anne4JC
or e-mail – buildingHisbody [plus] @gmail.com
Copyright 2011, Anne Lang Bundy, all rights reserved.