I awoke one night from a disturbing dream.

In the dream, I was running and hiding from the noise and commotion that filled the air. I found myself on top of hillside looking down on the streets below. It was early dawn and I could see military helicopters flying overhead, and hear fighting planes in the distant sky. There was a definite lack of peace around me. The smell of death left a bitter taste in my mouth. I remember tears coming down my cheeks as my level of fear rose.

From the hillside, I could see an actual battle unfolding. “Not in our country,” I cried aloud. I could see mortally wounded GI soldiers scattered lifeless on a grassy knoll. Other soldiers were crouching cautiously with their rifles aimed to fire on the enemy.

I shuddered as I saw missiles being fired from all directions, and their loud explosions felt like thunder raining down from heaven. I started to call out to the Lord and questioned why my cries were not heard. {Psalm 130:1}

One missile misfired and was lying on the ground a few yards in front of me. It’s timer continued to tick with each second on the clock. There was a soldier nearby unaware of the impending danger. My screams of warning went unheard. The missile slowly rotated in his direction and magically grew wings. The soldier’s heart took the full impact of the explosion.

I awoke screaming and trembling. In my waking tears I cried to the Lord, “How could he let me dream like this when I pray at night for a peaceful sleep?”

His reply was a lesson for my soul. “My child, the battle you have witnessed is between Christians. The missiles are the words that come from their mouth; and the death and destruction is the action of their words. Your spirit felt fear because the Holy Spirit was absent from your conversations.”

I was never so scared in my life. My dear Christian friends. Please, let us watch our words and actions before they become missiles. The disciple James spoke of the tongue being a mighty weapon of war. He describes the tongue as a fire, a world of iniquity. An unruly evil and a deadly poison.{James 3:5-8}

As a child, I enjoy playing a game called Gossip. All the players would sit in a circle, and the leader would whisper a secret in the first persons ear. We would then in turn, whisper that secret to the person sitting next to us until the whole group participated. We would then laugh at the final outcome of the spoken secret.

Christians play the same game as Gossip, but our games are more complex. We divide our secrets into groups of Catholic, Methodist, Baptist, Episcopal, Lutheran, Pentecostal and so forth. We feel power over other groups by the secrets we hold with our tongue. We are free to acknowledge that our group is more superior and Godlike than the others, when all along we are only fooling ourselves.

I have seen so many Christians whom the Lord has called to a ministry fail due to the tongue of others. These Christians have become victims gossip, prejudice and foolish pride under the guise of Discernment.

It is in our relationship with God, Jesus Christ His Son, and the Holy Spirit that truly matters. Doctrines of man will fall to the wayside like the bombs that misfired during the war.

The only true peace during trials and tribulations any person will know, is by totally giving their heart to the Lord and making Him the Savior of our lives.

Sue Ramsey Sues724r@aol.com