Monday, June 2, 2014

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In Dreams


          I awoke this morning feeling physically and emotionally drained, worn out by the spiritual battle in which I had been embroiled during my sleep.  It was one of those dreams which seemed so real that, when you wake up, you’re still trying to figure out a solution to affect the ultimate outcome.  My initial thought was to try to go back to sleep, reenter the dream, and work it all out for a satisfying and happy ending.  Realizing the impossibility of that, I tried to retell a bit of it to my husband, hoping to remove the feelings that were still haunting me.  It was an unsuccessful effort, for I still felt anxious and uneasy within my spirit.  To get the dream off of my mind, I decided to seek comfort through study with the Lord.  However, after a couple of hours, I realized my efforts thus far had not been effective.  Hoping to gain peace, I decided to write down the parts of the dream that I could remember. 

          I start by retelling the dream, not from the beginning, but from the ending, just as I was waking up.  The struggle had been so real.  I didn’t know if I had been talking in my sleep or not.  As I recall, I was pleading to someone with the following words: “The blood, the blood, only the blood of Jesus will wash away your sin!”  I wasn’t just telling them; I was pleading with everything within me.  It was as if, without knowing it, they were standing on the edge of a cliff, and one more step would take them over the edge.  With that same kind of urgency, I was trying to get them to listen so they could escape their impending doom.

          Let me digress back to the beginning of the dream.  Apparently, there were two souls, who were, for some unknown reason, facing certain death.  I didn’t know the cause, but I knew that I had to tell them about Jesus before it was too late, and they were lost forever.  They may have been complete strangers to me.  Who they were was not made known.  But my heart was breaking for them, and I couldn’t stand the idea that they didn’t even realize the eternal doom they were facing.  It wasn’t their physical death that concerned me, but more importantly, their spiritual death and an eternity separated from the love of God.

          With great urgency, I continued to try to tell them about the way of escape that Jesus had prepared for them, if they would only believe in all that He had done for them on the Cross.  I wasn’t talking with them in a relaxed manner, as if we had all the time in the world. Rather, I spoke with a sense of great urgency for them to understand and see where they were headed if they did not make the decision to receive Him now, as if they were two steps away from being put to death.

          In the next scene, I’m surprised, but oh so relieved, as I realize that others have joined with me in the battle for their lives.  They are in this special room, and one appears to be dressed as a high priest.  There are others who are also dressed in special garments.  The room has an altar upon which all things necessary for communion are being set up and prepared.  Round about it is a railing before which those who come forward are to kneel.  Everything was draped with white linen.  They don’t seem to be hurried or in any frenzy, but just working steadily, calmly and purposefully.  Their attitude and steady pace of work does not seem to be stimulated by who may or may not be coming.  Instead, it seems their goal is simply to make sure that all is in a continual state of readiness to serve anyone who will choose to enter in to receive from the Lord.

          The scene then flashes back to the room that is outside of this.  I am once again out there among the two souls and a host of others. I continue calling out to the two souls, trying to get them to hurry and run to Jesus.  All the while, this host of bystanders is now pressing in around them, calling out in derisive voices, telling them not to listen, saying that it’s all nonsense, and my warning of concern about any immediate danger is ridiculous.  They try to silence me, and tell the two souls to ignore my ranting.

          Through it all, my heart is breaking for the two souls who still do not appear to be moved or convinced that they are in any real danger.  It seems that they are aware of their death sentence that is to be carried out very shortly. Yet, even that knowledge doesn’t give them any sense of fear or concern for their need to repent and receive the one and only one that can save them.  Inwardly, tears of sorrow and anguish are tearing me apart.  With all that was within me, I still called out to them, “Hurry, hurry, run to the arms of Jesus!”  It was as if I could see a tornado just as it was about to come down upon us.  I’m crying out to them to hurry up and get into the storm shelter where they will be safe.  With my voice, I was ringing out the alarm to signal danger just as loud and clear as I could.  They were behaving as if they couldn’t even see the storm, and even if they could, they didn’t seem to think it could bring them any harm.  They seemed to be deceived by some idea that they had all the time in the world, and there was no need to listen to any message to change.

          Once again, I return to the end of my dream.  As I awake, I’m still calling out to them, pleading for them to listen and respond, “The blood, the blood, the blood of Jesus will wash away all your sins!” Even now, hours later, I’m still wondering, as if the dream were real; “In the end, did they ever enter that special room that had been prepared for them, or did they stay in the state of delusion and oblivious indecision until they were overcome and destroyed by the storm that was named “Doubt and Unbelief?”

          I returned to my husband to read him my story about the dream.  He responded by giving me the following scriptures (**) which ministered the peace of the Lord to my soul:  (Matthew 7: 13, 14) Jesus teaches about the way to Heaven.

**“Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be that go in thereat: because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.”

          Jesus is the narrow path.  The good news is that the path to find Him is readily and easily found by all who will sincerely seek to find Him.  However, sadly, not all will choose to seek to find Him.  Which path do you choose?  Have you entered into that special room prepared for you?  How will your dream end?  And the message of the dream is summed up in II Corinthians 2:  ** (my paraphrasing: because yesterday is gone and none of us is guaranteed a tomorrow) – time is short, and-

“Today is the Day of Salvation”

Hear the alarm and respond to the call before it’s too late!

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