Dawn was breaking. The pictures of my dream were still fresh under my closed eyelids.
I was in the house where I grew up, enjoying the company of my mother, and two sisters. We were preparing for a trip. A man who was helping us pack, turned to us and said, "I'm sorry to tell you this. I just heard over the radio that two rays of light are in the atmosphere. They are coming from opposite directions, and are about to collide. Just before they do, an alarm is going to sound. When they hit each other, all electrical power over the entire earth will be lost. In addition to that, our atmosphere will fail to give light, and we will be surrounded by complete darkness. This is about to take place momentarily."
At first, we thought that he had lost his mind, but the look on his face told us that he was not kidding. This forced me to go look out the very tiny window that was in the closed front door. I spotted two men talking with our neighbors who lived across the street. One of the two strangers, a rather large fellow, looked up at our house. I knew instantly that he was up to no good. He darted across the street towards our home. I immediately turned the deadbolt to lock the door, and yelled for my sister Mary to come help me push our weight against the door to ensure that he would not gain entrance. Just then, the alarm sounded. My heart sank, as all color drained from our faces, and sheer terror took hold of us. The sky started to turn an eriee smoking amber color.
By now, the man was slamming his shoulder hard against the door. Mary, and I knew that our strength, and the deadbolt lock were no match for him. Soon, he would be in our house!
The sound of all this banging, as well as the screaming alarm suddenly made me realize that the only one capable of keeping this guy out, was Jesus. Through that tiny window, I looked him straight in the eye, and shouted at him, "In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, I command you to get away from this door, and leave us alone!" As I backed away from the door, I prayed, "Lord, we can't hold him back, but You can supernaturally bar this door so that he will not get in!"
Immediately, I woke with the complete understanding that is imperative for us Christians to walk in the realms of the supernatural, so that signs, wonders, and miracles, are a common, and regular occurrence. This is an absolute necessity. We need to be walking in the power of Christ at all times. Then, and only then will we be able to stand, regardless of whatever dark times we may have to face.
Now, I'm not one to think this way! I've always hated to hear prophets, preachers, teachers, and evangelists shout their doom and gloom messages from the mountain tops. In fact, I'd be first to turn the channel, close the web page, or walk out the door. Until this dream, I never thought about preparing myself should something catastrophic ever happen. The dream impacted my whole day. I couldn't shake it, no matter how hard I tried.
I started to question, "What would I do if all the power in the whole world was lost, and the sun, the moon, and the stars failed to give off their light?" I could recall in intricate detail the utter terror I felt during this dream, and how it coursed through my veins in a way I had never felt before. I remembered panting to breathe, feeling completely helpless in my meager strength. I meditated on the fact that all overwhelm was calmed, and all panic subsided the second I realized just how powerless I truly was to help myself in any way. When I fully understood that He was the only One capable of keeping that door barred, I knew that even if He choose to let it fling wide open, everything would still be okay.
The minute I stopped trying to keep that evil man from getting through that door, and physically took a step back away from it to let Jesus do the barring, complete rest, and assurance flooded my soul. That didn't happen though, until I quit trying in my own strength to do anything, and completely gave the whole dilemma over to Christ!
Scriptures were racing through my head; "Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit says the Lord...If you pray believing, then will I hear from heaven, and whatsoever you ask in My name, it shall be done for you..."
My thoughts turned to the story in the Bible about the boy who had a fish sandwich in his lunch box. He gave it over to Jesus. Jesus took it, blessed it, multiplied it, and dispersed it. With this seemingly insignificant snack, Jesus proceeded to feed a crowd of over five thousand people. I wondered, "Should there ever come a time when food becomes so scare that we will have to do this too? Is this why the Bible says that, "in those days", men will come flocking to the Christians? What days? Why are they flocking?"
I always thought they would be "flocking" because they were scared, and needed prayer to calm their ravaged hearts, but could they come running because they are starving, and need us to multiply food in order for all of us to survive? Can it ever get that bad? Will it ever get this bad? You read about the possibility of stuff like this happening. We all know that many people are already stockpiling food. How long would those stockpiles last anyway? Isn't it all so pointless? If it ever came to that, stockpiles wouldn't do us any good for long. We would need supernatural intervention, and divine miracles to take the place of stockpiles!
I don't want to think about all this. I want to stay in my happy place, and la-de-da myself skipping down a daisy-lined lane, whistling some upbeat tune. Surely God would never let His children go through such horrific things! Or would He? What about the Scriptures? What about the persecution the early church endured? But that was then. We live under a new dispensation of "Grace and Mercy" right? Wait a minute! So did the early disciples of Christ! Oh, now my head is surely spinning. It all becomes too big for me to think about.
This morning's dream, I cannot deny. According to the Bible, God speaks to us in visions, and in dreams. Since I believe that, now I'm stuck. I'm faced with all the big "What if's..."
I have so many questions, but one thing I know for sure is that we must all go to the deep place with God, and in God. We must seek His face, and His face alone, cultivating an intimate relationship with our Heavenly Father, with His Son, Jesus Christ, and with Holy Spirit, our Comforter, Who was sent to take the place of Jesus on the earth until Jesus comes back again to our planet. The Bible tells me that He is readying Himself for this trip even as I write this; even as you are reading this. We must ready ourselves, too. How do we do this? By seeking a relationship with the Trinity, or else none of us will know what to do when the alarm sounds.
Today, I renewed my determination to take time everyday to sit quietly before God, to say to Him, "Here I am. I am going to clear my mind of every thought, except You. I am not going to let Chatter, Clutter, or Static creep in. I am not going to let Requests creep in. Every time I catch myself thinking about anything but You, I will refocus my attention onto You. Please help me. I need to know You, My Daddy God. I need to know Your Son, Jesus, and I need to know Holy Spirit, Who will guide me in this quest to know. Like never before, I will give You this time everyday. I won't let the devil tell me that five minutes doesn't count. I will give you focused time everyday, regardless that sometimes five minutes may be all I have. Some days, I may find myself spending five hours in this quiet time before You. It doesn't matter. What matters is that I come everyday. Coming before You, and focusing on only You during that time. Those are the important things. My time, and my focus. I will not let the enemy rob me of doing this. This is the battle. This is the war. I will fight. I will do this. I will win in this. I will not try to do it. Trying is cop out. I will do! No matter what. I know that when I do this, You will do the rest from there. You will lead me, guide me, and speak to me whatever it is that I need to know. I will step away from the door that the bad man is trying to smash down, and let You do the barring. You do better than I ever could, anyway! I will study, not just read Your Word, which is Your book that is a lamp to my feet, and a light to my path. I will ask Holy Spirit, my Guide, and my Teacher to illuminate the meanings to me. And thus, I will know You, instead of just knowing of, or about You. I will know You!"
Zechariah 4:6 "...Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit, says the Lord of hosts."
