Dreams

I've told you about the nightmares.  I guess it's only fair that I also tell you about the amazing dreams that God has given me.   I know the dreams that He sends me because they are much more vivid than my regular dreams and I remember them clearly… the parts He wants me to anyway.  I'll explain that later.

 

The first dream I remember being in a corn field after the harvest.  I was franticly running around picking up little pieces of something that were spread all over the ground.  When my hands would get full I would run over and set them on a table and then back out into the field to look for more pieces.  When I set the pieces on the table the second time I noticed that the first batch of pieces were no longer there.  I looked up and saw a man taking the pieces from the table and putting them on an easel.  I then turned and ran back to the field and continued my hunt. 

After many trips I returned to the table with the final pieces.  I watched as this tall, gentle man picked up each piece and put it in its place.  With the final piece in His hand he reached the other hand out to me.  He brought me to the other side of what had become a beautiful painting/stained glass picture and together we added the final piece. 

As I stepped back to admire the finished piece, I knew it was showing me a picture of my future.  He was showing me how He was taking all of the shattered pieces of my life and making something beautiful out of it.  (Sound familiar? Jeremiah 29:11/ Isaiah 61:3)

When I woke up I could remember everything vividly except for two things.  I couldn't remember His face and I couldn't remember what the final picture looked like.  I tried but I just had this overwhelming feeling that I had something amazing to look forward to.

It's interesting how He let me remember everything with such detail but he wouldn't let me remember those things. 

 

The second one, I'm going to cheat a little and send you the email I sent to Joe several days after the dream.  I just couldn't wait any longer to tell him about it…

 

I realized I never told you about the amazing dream I had a while back.  I guess I had hoped to tell you in person because I wanted to talk to you about it. 

Anyway let's see if I can do it justice…

In my dream, the Lord showed me this beautiful home.  It was open and inviting.  Everything was bright and the lighting was brilliant.  Most importantly, everything in it was old but looked new.  I recyclers dream. :-)

Then he took me outside and it looked like an ordinary house.  Nothing special but even there it had this light about it. 

Then it started to turn dark.  It was like there was a heavy cloud over it.  A heavy darkness.

We went back inside and it was the same house but it didn't look anything like it did in the beginning.  But this was the beginning.  This is what it looked like before the renovation happened. 

It was dimly lit.  And there were so many walls that the rooms were so small, almost claustiphobic, and it felt more like a maze. 

As with any remodeling, before there can be any construction there has to be some demolition. 

We had to break down the walls.  Then we came to some rooms, some as small as closets, and they were locked.  Some of them I unlocked easily and was able to face what was inside.  Then those walls could be destroyed too. 

Some of those doors I didn't want to open.  I didn't want to face what was on the other side.  But He stood right there by my side and I knew He was going to be there so I wouldn't have to face it alone.  At one door He held me in His arms for quite a while before I could finally unlock the door and face what was inside.  Then He handed me the sledge hammer so I could tear down those walls and release it forever.

By the time we got done all that was left was the exterior, the frame, and the foundation.  Then the real work began.  The only walls that went back up we're those to give the house strength and to provide a private place.  All the furnishings were taken and made new with very skillful hands and careful guidance.  The lights began to show more and more brightly.

Then He took me into the living room area and there, taking up almost one whole wall was the most beautiful picture I'd ever seen.  Then I realized I had seen it before.  It was the picture from another dream.  I think I told you about that one.  

And on the mantle was the beautiful vase from another dream.  From a distance it was ornate and so interesting.  But when you get up close you could see all the cracks under the glaze.  But instead of the brokenness making it damaged, it made it even more beautiful and interesting.  You could see the strength and beauty in its brokenness.

The house was me.  It was to show me my journey and how far I'd come.  It's not finished yet, there is still some work to be done.  He's not done with me yet. 

To see it all illustrated that way was so impactful for me.  To see all the work that has been done and to see so many broken things made new again.  And to see how much light is in my life now instead of that darkness I didn't realize I was in. 

Now you know why I had to tell you the next morning about how amazing I felt.

2 days after I sent him that email.  I received this in a newsletter that I had started receiving… 

 

"Imagine yourself as a living house. God comes in to rebuild that house. At first, perhaps, you can understand what He is doing. He is getting the drains right and stopping the leaks in the roof and so on: you knew that those jobs needed doing and so you are not surprised. But presently he starts knocking the house about in a way that hurts abominably and does not seem to make sense. What on earth is He up to? The explanation is that He is building quite a different house from the one you thought of – throwing out a new wing here, putting on an extra floor there, running up towers, making courtyards. You thought you were going to be made into a decent little cottage but He is building a palace. He intends to come and live in it Himself."

— C. S. Lewis, p. 205

― C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

 

Coincident?  I think not.