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AWAKENING: The Deep Sleep, Chapter 1
Victoria Boyson
www.victoriaboyson.com
Chapter 1: The Deep Sleep
Time is running out. Wake up, for our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed.
- Romans 13:11 NLT
It was dusk when Beloved awoke and, standing in the middle of a vast sea of wildflowers, she saw purple and pink blossoms as far as her eyes could reach. Her mind was filled with confusion, making her unsure of where she was or why she was there.
Before her lay rolling fields of beautiful flowers, yet there was an ominous weightiness in the atmosphere that disturbed her. The remains of slumber tried its best to cloud her vision and pull her back to sleep, to overwhelm her with its lethargy. Beloved struggled to shrug off the drag of numbness she felt in her mind as she fought to comprehend the truth of her situation.
As the reality of her condition set in, she realized she had been asleep. She didn't remember having fallen asleep but did recall a faint dream she'd had that had awoken her. It had been about a world in desperate need for her help - she knew she was needed, but by whom and for what purpose?
Beloved noticed the flowers she stood in and was immediately made quite aware of the sinister scene all around her. Studying more closely, she discovered people lying fast asleep in the flowers. She stared in amazement at thousands of men and women, even some children, sleeping amongst the captivating field of blossoms.
The landscape was so stunningly beautiful it took her breath away. Yet in it lay a whole world of people sleeping as though they'd been caught in the middle of their lives.
Her shock compelled her to wonderment. As if being drawn into their lives, Beloved felt the urge to discover who or what had caused this plague of slumber.
She sensed that many of those asleep had, at one time in their lives, clarity of destiny, yet had lost their way. Stopping too long, they were caught by the lull and beauty of the flowers until they could no longer remember their purpose and fell captive to an unshakeable sleep.
The immensity of what seemed to her to be an unparalleled epidemic of afflicted narcosis sent her mind whirling.
"Were they held captive by the pull of the world?" she wondered as questions flooded her heart.
Beloved stood bewildered, watching and questioning. While she was preoccupied with the mystery of what she was experiencing, she suddenly realized she was being watched.
Startled, she swung around and discovered, standing quite near her, a large, beaming, angelic being full of light and wonder. Watching her, his warm eyes waited expectantly, as if wanting her to notice him.
He was radiant with an intensely brilliant yet tranquil light and something about him made her feel completely comfortable in spite of his astonishing appearance. Something in Beloved gave her the feeling she had always known him...he seemed quite familiar.
Stunned by his magnificence, she stepped back to adjust to the alarming affect he had on her. Looking at him with large, wondering eyes, she instinctively felt he seemed to be waiting for something.
As if in response to her unspoken questions, he motioned out over the endless scene and asked, "Will you help us?"
"Us?" Beloved questioned.
He seemed surprised at her question. "Yes, us," he answered as he bent down and tenderly held the hand of one sleeping woman. "We are the angelic who serve those sleeping here."
Suddenly, Beloved's eyes were opened to the extraordinary assembly of angelic beings all around her, waiting as he had been. Now in sight were thousands of beautifully bright elysian beings towering over her, radiating confident peace in spite of their concern for those asleep.
Some of the angelic knelt down to speak to those sleeping. Lovingly, yet earnestly, they tried to awaken those held captive by the deep sleep. The great care they expressed for those sleeping stirred a compassion in Beloved for them as well - she wanted to help if she could.
Looking again to the being who had addressed her, Beloved asked, "How can I help you?"
He
rose and stood again beside her and said, "We've been unable to wake them because we cannot enter their world of dreams."
As she approached each precious person, her spirit felt the impressions of what
their lives were like. Beloved thought for a while, then realized she had been given grace to decipher the hearts of man, yet seeing only what the Father wanted to show her. She could see glimpses into their past, present
and future, and sensed the pain they'd experienced in the world they lived in.
Sitting down in the flowers near the woman whose hand the angel had clasped, Beloved was drawn to help this very sweet and gentle
woman. She brushed the woman's hair from her face and felt a wave of peace as her hand grazed her face.
Beloved was then gripped by a rapid succession of pictures that flew through her mind. The woman had been an
avid follower of Jesus as a child but had fallen in love very young, and an abortion in her teens had aged her and injured her heart. She still wanted God, but grew cynical and mistrustful of Him.
Though the woman
grew up and eventually married, Beloved saw that she never regained the passion for her First Love. Instead, she kept up with what she felt was expected of her as a Christian woman and hid her true yearnings. Subsequently,
she was led astray - finding her worth not in her heavenly Father but in a temporal world of power and importance.
Beloved could feel the longing in the woman's heart for something more - something real that had
eluded her in her pursuits. But she had been unable to shake the sleep of the world she believed was her reality.
As Beloved knelt by the woman, she dropped her head in her hands and cried. Turning to the awaiting
angelic and shaking her head, she exclaimed, "She was so close."
"Close to what?" he asked her.
"True reality," Beloved cried.
She then turned and touched the hand of a
man asleep near her on her other side. She saw a large building filled with people who admired him, yet he felt empty. He was so busy running and working continually, trying desperately to attain a satisfactory measure of
peace that seemed to elude him. It appeared no level of success would ever be enough to ease the force in his life that was recklessly driving him from one project to the next.
From one need to another, this man gave
himself to his work. Only occasionally in his downtime would he question himself as to what was driving him. He wondered, "Why am I still so empty?"
Beloved went from person to person, and each individual
had a history of trials and successes, driven by unseen forces within them. Yet all had the internal question in their heart they had not given themselves time to dwell on: "What is this life really
about?"
As they worked and lived in their perceived realities, questions drifted in and out of their thoughts only occasionally in their busyness. The questions seemed to come as the heavenly creatures tried to
awaken them.
Unfortunately, as soon as they would attempt to struggle with their slumber, they were captivated again by the poisonous fragrance of the wildflowers of the world and, again, busied themselves in what
they believed to be of true importance.
Overwhelmed by the seemingly beguiled condition of those caught in the deep sleep, Beloved wept. She wanted to run away but was surrounded by a crowd of the angelic who were
anticipating her help.
Her face sank into her hands once again as she suddenly realized, "This is the Lord's last-days army!"
These poor, cleverly deluded people were those He was counting on to
fulfill His great mandate. These noble warriors of immense importance to God were presently living in a dream reality - a distraction from their true life and purpose. Increasing her anxiety, she knew these essential
warriors did not even realize they were at war.
She could see it was a clever lie for, effectively, they had forgotten who they were. They had lost sight of heaven and the reality of its realm and were, indeed, held
captive in a temporal world apart from their eternal Source.
~O~
Heaven and earth are indeed one, separated only by an expanse of sky. Yet so much of the earthly world is believing its own reasonings and has
rationalized its own "truth," that it belongs only to itself, existing independently from the realm of its Creator.
Unfortunately, many of this world's inhabitants found out too late they had believed a
deceptive version of reality, as if living in a dream world. They lived their lives serving an illusion that this earthly life was all that mattered, without really considering its origin, and thus were driven by a tricky
delusion keeping them isolated from the truth of its blessed union with heaven.
Beloved considered all she was discovering, yet it only deepened her sadness and seemed to increase the terrible difficulty she was
faced with. She needed help; she could not fight this battle on her own. It was too much for her.
Sensing her burden, the angelic host drew near and comforted her with their support.
"You are not
alone," they informed her.
"I'm not?"
"No, Beloved. There are other seekers just like yourself who've discovered true reality is not found in this earthly realm; they are like you
and they know of you."
"Why, if they know me, do they not show themselves?" She felt frustrated and befuddled, almost angry at hearing what he had told her.
He placed his hand gently on her
shoulder and she could now see a vision of what had previously been hidden from her. "A prophetic host!" she exclaimed with whispered excitement.
She could see in the spirit realm a relatively small but
intensely powerful army of the King's seekers who were hidden in plain sight. They were concealed for their protection as well as for the significance of the battle they were to fight. Many of them were even unaware of
the destiny that lay before them; they had no idea of their importance.
The angel answered her thoughts, "Yes, Beloved. They are hidden. The Father has hidden them for the next great battle … the battle to
awaken His Son's precious bride."
Now, seeing them through the eyes of the Spirit, she no longer felt alone. For the first time since awakening, she felt hope rise in her heart.
AWAKENING: The Deep Sleep is available in both paperback and Ebook. Get your copy today!
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