A dream last night �
The injured warrior stumbled unsteadily across the rocky ground. Around him the sounds of the raging battle which had been going on for quite a few years now. His armor was dented and torn from the constant clashes with the enemy. Several arrows had pierced him through the holes in his protection and he reeled from the wounds.
The first arrow was blood red and hit him in the thigh. His belt called Truth usually covered that area, but lately he had been to busy to keep up on the repairs to the links that kept the armor together. Fighting this war was tiring enough without having to also do repairs on the armor. Besides, how often do you get hit in the thigh?! The arrow had writing on it, he noticed as it was sticking out of his leg. It said� Lust. Weird. The enemy sure knew what to use to slow him down. Then again, that was one area that the entire army was constantly losing to. Those Lust arrows seemed to find their ways through the best armor. For some reason their belts of truth were just not strong enough to deflect the arrows lately. And gosh, wouldn�t it be so nice to relax? To release the frustration and tension that was plaguing him. It would feel so good. Didn�t he deserve some time off? A reward for being so faithful a warrior?
The next arrow hit him in the side. Usually he would use his shield of Faith to deflect the arrow from hitting him anywhere near his heart, but he reacted too slow. Lately he just could not seem to react fast enough. This arrow was black and had the words Deception and Doubt scratched into it. As the arrow struck him, he fell to the ground. For the first time, he wondered why he was even fighting this stupid war. What was the point? After all, the enemy seemed to be winning, and their armor and weapons seemed to be so much stronger and better. His army�s armor was old and the followed this general that they had never even seen� they just had his plans in this ancient book. So what if this guy was wrong? What then? Was this all in vain?
While he was laying there on the ground thinking about all this, a dart with a razor sharp tip struck him in the neck. Sure, he had his helmet on earlier, but it was so hot that he had taken it off for a few minutes to get some air. As he lay there, gasping for breath, he realized that the dart must have been poisoned. He saw the word Death written on it.
But wait, he thought. My helmet says salvation� my shield says faith� I have armor of righteousness and a sword� why can I not fight these attacks? Why am I losing? General! Where are you? I need you! As he began to slip out of consciousness, he saw a blinding light above him. A hand reached down and pulled him to his feet. He felt intense pain as that same hand pulled the arrows from his wounds. All at once, the pain was replaced by a feeling which surrounded him and bathed him in warmth and he could feel his wounds closing and healing. As he stood there stunned, he saw that the man�s hands had scars on the wrists, and he noticed a long scar in the man�s side. He could barely see his face because of the intense light, but he knew that he was in the presence of the General himself.
Being in the General�s very presence shot through his very existence, and even without words, he knew why he was fighting this war. He knew that his job was to daily resist the enemy and continue to spread the truth to all who he came in contact with. Because there were millions of other out there who were fighting for the enemy and they did not even know why. Yes, the enemy was clever. Yes, he used some attractive means to draw people to his side. But when confronted with Truth, those facades quickly crumbled into piles of ash. He knew that he was strong enough to resist the arrows and darts of the enemy if he read the battle plan and studied it with diligence And together with his brother and sisters following the plan, he knew that they would ultimately triumph. Because the power they had on their side was ultimate.
Freedom! Was their shout. Victory! was their cry.