"where, o death, is your sting?"

He was buried alive and screaming for help, but no one seemed to hear or care, except me. So I got on my hands and knees and clawed the dirt away, my arms flailing around as fast as they could go, desperate to reach him before he could no longer breathe.

After what seemed like an eternity, there he was, his face covered with dirt but still breathing! I cleared a hole to pull him to safety and hugged him for dear life, crying uncontrollably in relief.

The others finally showed some interest in the situation and pleaded with me to get the man to a doctor, but I wouldn’t let go. I couldn’t let go. He was my friend and he had almost died.

I awoke from that nightmare last night crying in bed and hugging a pillow. And my wife, bless her heart, was hugging me, sensing something was wrong.

What does it mean? I have no idea, but I had plenty of time to think about it since my mind and body were now all stirred up. No more sleep for preacher boy.

As I laid in bed, now wide awake, I kept thinking about a couple of verses from the New Testament.

“Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed- in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.”1

What do these verses have to do with my nightmare? Not sure, except they just kept bouncing around in my head. As they did, I knew what I would write about today: You’re reading it.

These verses tell us what will happen when Christ comes back. Those of us who are followers of Jesus and alive on earth at the time will not “sleep.” That is, we will not die. And then comes the really, really cool part: “We will all be changed—in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye.”

I believe this is when we who are alive will receive our heavenly, resurrected bodies. And those who have died will also be resurrected. In their case, their souls, which are currently with Jesus2, will be reunited with their bodies, only these are imperishable and eternal bodies.

Again, what do these verses have to do with my nightmare? Not sure. Maybe this is a reminder that even though I miss my friend, who died a few years ago, he’s okay. And maybe this is a reminder that both of us will be resurrected and I’ll see him again.

But I’m more interested in how you react to these verses. Do they encourage you as much as they encourage me? Are you as excited as I am knowing resurrected bodies are on the way? Are you as excited as I am knowing I’ll be reunited with loved ones who have died?

I don’t like nightmares, but this one reminded me of an ironclad biblical truth, a truth that comforts me down to me very soul: Christ takes care of those who are His.

“When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: ‘Death has been swallowed up in victory.’ ‘Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?’"3  

1  1 Corinthians 15:51-52

2  Philippians 1:21-23

3  1 Corinthians 15:54-55