Unknown Wounds

His appearance was startling, to say the least. His face was black and blue with bruises ... deep painful bruises. One eye was totally closed shut. A few of his teeth were missing. There was a scrape across his temple that was fresh and open. One of his legs was bent backward in an unnatural position, it had to be broken. "Hey ... how's it goin'?" he asked .... with a grin! "I'm great....how....are you?" I asked with some hesitancy. "Never better. Things are really going great for me," he said. As I watched it appeared that he had been punched in the stomache as he doubled over and exhaled all of his air. Then he stood back up. "What's going on with you?" I asked. "Me and Janie are goin' to the movies tonight. What are you doing?" I couldn't believe this conversation. "Well, I'm going to stay home and spend some time with my brother who has come home from college." I wanted to say, "by the way, why do you look like you've been beaten with a bat?" But for some reason I didn't. Suddenly his nose was smashed against his face by some invisble force and blood began to flow from his nostrils. "Yeah ... I like your brother. I'm glad you're getting to spend some time with him. Maybe we can go to the ball game tomorrow night." He acted as if he did not know he was bleeding. While we were talking, other people walked by. There went one who's arm had been severed, and they were just chatting with the person next to them .... a person who walked on bare feet, leaving bloody footprints with each step. Over on a bench was someone who had no eyeballs left in their sockets, but who seemed to be able to see the others as they passed by. My friend fell to the ground in what looked like an epileptic fit.... but it wasn't. He was being pummeled by unseen fists ... beating him from every direction. In a moment he stood up. "What's wrong with you," he said, "you look like you've seen a ghost!" Then he let out a loud ghastly laugh and a few more of his teeth fell out. A friend of mine named Jay walked by. He looked completely normal. I felt like I had walked into a halloween carnival and no one told me to dress up. Only these were not dress up wounds. "Jay ... what's happened? You look completely normal...but everyone else... they look beaten and wounded," I said. Jay replied, "You are dreaming, John. But learn from your dream. This is what Satan has done to all of your friends. He keeps torturing them, beating them, maiming them, but they do not know it. They have no idea. They hurt, and they feel wounded in some way .... but they do not know the source of thier pain. Maybe you shouldn't wake up for a while. Stay ... and learn to hate the ways of your enemy." I wondered what I could do about all of the destruction around me. Hearing my thoughts, Jay said, "Jesus will heal them ... but first their eyes must be opened to their wounds ... sometimes by seeing His wounds ... and then they must turn to the Healer."