I Had a Nightmare and Then a Dream

By:  Dale Weckbacher

Joel 2:28

"And it shall come to pass afterward

That I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh;

Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,

Your old men shall dream dreams,

Your young men shall see visions.

NKJV

I am going to be turning 60 this year so I guess that puts me in the category of those dreaming dreams.  Since nightmares are scary dreams, I guess the fact that I recently had a nightmare and then a dream is not so surprising.  Let me take a few moments to share my nightmare and dream.

I am normally a sound sleeper but the other night I awoke in a cold sweat.  Granted I live in Arizona where sweating is not out of the ordinary but this sweat was not due to the Arizona heat and instead due to two of the scariest things I could imagine for my country. 

In my first nightmare, it was election night.  I had just finished voting after work, as I normally do, and sat down to watch the returns.  I had voted for the Republican nominee for President, which, since I am a Ted Cruz supporter was Ted Cruz in my dream.  As the returns came in however it was beginning to become apparent Hillary Clinton, in spite of a recent indictment for having placed high security emails on her unsecured private server, was going to be the next President of the United States.  Of course, the fact of the indictment went unmentioned by the liberal media and instead they were giddy about the prospects of the first woman President, reminding me of how giddy they were at the election of the first black President in 2008. 

My nightmare then leapt forward two years and I was watching the news on CNN.  I was forced to watch CNN because the FCC had shut down Fox for not obeying the so-called fairness doctrine.  The news began with a report of another terrorist attack, this time in the town in which I live, Phoenix Arizona.  The fact of a terrorist attack on U.S. soil was scary enough but what made this a full-blown nightmare was how casual the reporter was in his reporting.  He then commented on how these terrorist attacks from Muslims living in the country were becoming commonplace and expressed his desire that we begin trying to understand these people more so these attacks could end.  Of course, there was no mention of stopping the invasion of our country by these people who have no love for the country and only desire the slaughter of all who refuse to adopt their religion.

The newscast then went on to the economy.  “The recession was officially deemed a depression today,” said the reporter, “but not to fear.  We only need to give the Clinton agenda of higher taxes, free healthcare, free education, and free money to the disadvantaged a little more time to take effect.”  The economic story then shifted to how another U.S. company was relocating its operations overseas.  No mention of course to the fact that this company relocated to escape the 75% corporate tax rate and instead the report vilified the company for not fulfilling its patriotic duty of paying taxes to help the disadvantaged.  I thought how about allowing the company to make a profit and create jobs and opportunities for the disadvantaged.  Of course, I thought, the people voted for the freebies so why would they even want to work.  The economic report then went on to bemoan the fact that the government for the first time in its history would default on its debt causing many to speculate the very real possibility that the government would not be able to make good on its promises of freebies to citizens now conditioned to expect them for their daily survival.    

At this point I awoke in a cold sweat.  After taking a few moments to compose myself I once again fell asleep only to have a similar nightmare, this time with Bernie Sanders as President.  The situation was much worse under the socialist agenda of Bernie Sanders with the country already defaulting on its debt and failing to make entitlement payments that month resulting in civil unrest and riots in the streets.  Unfortunately, with the confiscation from guns from citizens in the first year of the Sanders Administration, many innocent people were being killed in the resulting violence.  In an emergency speech from the Oval Office, President Sanders urged people to calm down and that the situation would be fixed as soon as they could find out how to confiscate the wealth of companies exiting the nation. 

I awoke terrified similar to how Scrooge must have felt after his visit from the ghosts of Christmas.  I dropped to my knees in prayer praying for God to intervene and insure my two nightmares did not become reality.  I then remembered Proverbs 3:5 and was reminded that no matter who wins elections, God is in control and we need to trust him and not elected officials. 

Reassured by my time with the Lord I was soon able to get back to sleep.  This time, instead of a nightmare I had a dream.  After voting, I began watching the election returns and after the GOP candidate took Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Florida it became evident that the GOP candidate would be the next President.  Much of the credit for this victory was a miraculous unification within the GOP after the convention resulting in massive national support and turnout to elect the GOP nominee President. 

Fast-forward two years and the Fox News report was touting how the border wall and enforcement of immigration laws had resulted in a reduction of crime in U.S. cities.  The engaging and swift defeat of ISIS on the battlefield had resulted in a drastic reduction and near elimination of terrorism globally making the world a much safer place. 

Economically, the elimination of the corporate income tax and the replacement of the progressive income tax with a flat tax had caused many companies to move back to the U.S. and hire more U.S. citizens.  This influx of capital coupled with a drastic increase in the labor participation rate had eliminated budget deficits and enabled the nation to begin reducing, not increasing, its national debt.  Instead of debate on how to continue entitlements without money, the debate turned to what to do with the surpluses.  After this dream I dropped to my knees once again and asked the Lord what I could do to insure my dream, and not my nightmares became reality. 

In reality I never had such nightmares or dreams while sleeping but as I look over the electoral landscape, my greatest concern is that either one of my nightmares or my dream will become reality.  In order to insure it is the dream, and not a nightmare, that becomes reality, I urge the GOP to unify either before or at the convention to insure a massive turnout of voters for the GOP candidate in November.  The 2010 and 2014 elections stand as proof that a unified and energized GOP base will turn out in mass to bring a GOP victory.  We must insure that happens in 2016 for if it does not, I fear one of my nightmare scenarios will become reality and we all will suffer.