Last night, I was awakened by the shrill howling of a pack of coyotes after making a kill. They were just across the street from our home and loud enough to wake me while I was deep in sleep. I was in that state between sleep and wakefulness called hypnagogia, where a transition between sleep and being fully awake is taking place. A state of hypnagogia can reveal things, almost hallucinatory images, that we would not consider when we are fully awake.

We always have packs of coyotes living and hunting around our home. It wasn’t strange to hear their howls at night while I was still awake. I’ve heard them many times, but this time was different. In my state of hypnagogia, it was like they were surrounding us, and I forgot that we were protected by the walls of our home.

As the shrilling pack continued to sound the success of their kill, I eased myself out of bed and tried to gain a clear mind. When I was fully awake, I realized they were not somehow inside our home, and our walls were protecting us.

Many believers are living in a state of spiritual hypnagogia. They are afraid of things they have been told to believe are true, but are lies. They have allowed themselves to linger in a state of spiritual hypnagogia, not becoming fully awake in the Spirit.

The promise from God that He would never fail us or abandon us was given to God’s people across both covenants and remains intact today. While spiritual predators roam the nations and are making shrill sounds of predation, we need to become fully awake to God’s truth in order to correctly interpret our reality. That interpretation will come because we abide in the light of God’s truth.

Paul wrote, “For the light makes everything visible. This is why it is said, “Awake, O sleeper,rise up from the dead, and Christ will give you light” (Ephesians 5:14).

Only after we have become fully awake will we realize the walls of His protection still surround us and protect us from being consumed by the sounds of a fearful culture. Living in the light of God’s truth is our greatest protection as the world grows increasingly unstable and unpredictable.