“For God speaks in one way,
and in two, though man does not perceive it.
In a dream, in a vision of the night,
when deep sleep falls upon men,
while they slumber on their beds,
then he opens the ears of men…”
Job 33:14-16 (RSV)
God is infinitely powerful, all knowing and omnipresent, yet He enters time and space, just to communicate with us. He chooses how to speak to us, sometimes through our thoughts, or through scripture, or through other people, and sometimes through the dreams in our sleep.
I don’t always remember my dreams, but I wrote down the details of one mysterious and colorful dream I had over a year ago. While it seems more meaningful to me today, it also has meaning and inspiration for anyone, because this dream is an allegory of the Christian life.
I dreamed that a mysterious male being, with an aura of authority, was telling me to leave my home and come with him to a hiding place.
I didn’t know the man but I trusted him, and we set out to travel together on foot.
We ran together through various landscapes, across fields and forests, and when he held my hand, I was able to run as fast as him, and keep up. When I let go of his hand and ran at my own pace, I lagged far behind him. He was faster, stronger and taller than me, and I finally called out, “Hold my hand so I can run faster !” When he held my hand, I ran like a gazelle.
We stopped at a pond to drink water, but we saw that the pond was all dried up. Without saying a word, he helped me to leap over it, and we kept running. I never felt tired or thirsty.
We finally arrived at a street, filled with a row of colorful stucco homes. Each home was a different color and there were men on ladders, still working on the finishing touches outside of each one. On the front of every house was a big cross and colorful banners containing scripture verses.
Then he led me to the particular home where I was to stay. The man called it my “hiding place.” I was about to go inside, when I suddenly woke up.
Looking back at that colorful and mysterious adventure, here is the meaning that I found in it:
The man in my dream was a heavenly being, super powered, like an angel, probably my guardian angel. We each have the help of a guardian angel, who has been assigned to us from birth, to keep us moving toward a higher purpose that leads to our heavenly destination. The Christian journey was intended to be an active one, we were not meant to remain stagnant. The angel who led me in my dream, did it all with action, but few words.
I was able to keep up and run faster, only when I held his hand. All of our hope comes from God, and as we stay connected to Him, keeping our hand in His, He upholds us, just as He promised us, saying,
“I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”(Isaiah 41:10)
I thought about that dried up pond and realized we encounter many dried up ponds in our lifetime. They represent the disappointments and sorrows that we face in our lives, along our journey. The angel held my hand and we leaped over the dried pond, in order to keep running forward. We will always do better in our walk of faith, when we look ahead, instead of looking back, “forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead.”(Philippians 3:13)
I never felt thirsty in my dream, but Jesus gives us His living water, promising that whoever drinks it, will never thirst again.
The most important truth I take away is that we will never run alone. God is always with us as we progress on our journey. When we grow tired, He promises to renew our strength,
“We will run and not grow weary, and walk but not faint.” (Isaiah 40:31)
The multi colored hiding place homes were not to hide away in, but contained the hidden treasures of wisdom and knowledge, for us to discover along the way. They contained all the lessons we were meant to learn through every dried up pond we have passed through in our lives.
Every house had a cross on it, with workmen on ladders, making the finishing touches to the outside. We belong to Christ, and are sealed in His cross, but we are still under renovation as long as we live. God is making His finishing touches on our lives, through all that we go through. In every trial we suffer, He is producing new fruit in us, while uniting each person on a deeper level with the suffering of Jesus.
We expect prayers to be answered in a certain way, but God is trying to give us the wisdom to understand some of His answers.
Instead of moving the mountain, maybe He wants us to run across it, with Him, holding our hand.
Instead of calming the storm, He may be inviting us to walk on the stormy waters with Him, as He is holding our hand.
In asking for His healing, He might be waiting to feel us reach far enough to touch the fringe of His garment.
Whatever trial we go through, the hand we keep holding on to, in our journey, is the nail pierced, scarred hand of Jesus. We can do all things when we keep our hand in His.
I woke up from that dream, before seeing what was inside of that home, but took away the main message for all of us. To keep our hand in His and open our heart to the treasures of God’s wisdom that are hidden in Christ.
Lord, thank you for holding our hand and giving us strength to run with endurance. Help us to seek the treasures hidden in you, and continue to reveal the depths of your love to us today and always. Amen