Living Without Dreams

Prologue

The Lord smiled down on His faithful pair and their little family of four. Their long and painful physical journey was finally over. He answered their prayers and finally brought them home, back to a place they each knew but had never as a family lived before. It would be their hardest challenge He knew, but it was also the exact setting He needed for His plan, the one that would lead them to the place they needed to be in order to thrive.

To the Lord’s surprise, Satan smiled too.

                “You do not see my faithful are prevailing?” the Lord asked his servant.

                “They prevailed only while living in the protected cocoon woven for them abroad by you. Even their recent loss was engineered by you to be completed while they were still on their own. With only each other to turn to, in a world foreign to them, of course they have come to trust you. You allowed them to survive. Things will be different now that they are home,” Satan predicted.

“Their lives have not been nearly so isolated as you suggest. They have had interactions with both family and friends in the past few years. It will only be more so now that they are in their native land again. They are ready. They are prepared,” the Lord insisted.

“Are they?” Satan questioned. “Home is a place of comfort and familiarity … and yet never before have they been here together. Old habits will serve to pull them apart. They inhabit different worlds in this place. Miss understandings will abound. Opportunities to whisper doubts into their ears will grow. Lack of trust can so easily begin to erode the faith you have grown.”

“In this place they will face challenges of another kind,” the Lord agreed. “They must learn to construct their own cocoon … their own sanctuary … their place of refuge that will grow their faith. They must learn new ways of listening to me.”

“Even this they do not know. It is not part of their dreams,” Satan said.

“True, though they knew it once, long ago. They must discover it a new, learn to live where everything is new, and still not forget the lessons of their past. It will be difficult, but my faithful are strong. I don’t believe even with your increased opportunity, you can pull them apart,” the Lord said.

“We shall see,” Satan predicted and they turned to watch the events upon the Earth as they began to unfold.

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