The Stuff Dreams are Made of.

It was a cold night.  She was sad, but she didn't know why, and on top of that, she had to leave somewhere, but she didn't know where.  All she knew was at the time; she was in a fight with her cousin.  She tugged his sleeve, looked up into Bob's eyes and begged him not to leave.  He just gave her a kiss on the forehead and headed off into the night. Fast forward now.

She was with her brother, south side of town in a surly district.  Thugs were lined up in the street, eyeing those they could beat up and rob.  Her brother hugged her close and said" Don't look 'em in the eye, keep your head down, and stay close to me." As they crept along side the house, out to the car, she looked from the corner of her eye, and saw them, as vast an army as she had ever seen, in hooded sweatshirts, lined up ready to attack, but for some reason they did not see her... She could hear them yelling to come out of the house. Why didn't they see her?  She held her breath, as she crept alongside her brother to the car. When she reached down into her coat pocket, there was her son!!  Tiny, little Nathan, grabbing her hair, clutching at her to hold him close.  But when she looked again, he was gone.  She looked in the car seat, she looked up on the workbench in the garage, she looked everywhere, and finally there he was on the kitchen table.  How on earth did she forget him?  She reasoned with herself, but her fear of the crowd outside kept her from reason.  As she made her way to the car, holding her precious little one, suddenly, a man approached her.  He said, "We got it all on viral video... How you lost your kid... and it is going to be on the internet tonight. You are in trouble Lady!"

Then she woke.  Tears, heart pounding.. Looking around she realized this was her room, her bed, her window.  Bob was in heaven, John was in Colorado, and Nathan was a grown man.  All of that stress.. but for what reason?
 
I am convinced that we work out our troubles in our dreams.  I know I do.  Not that having crazy dreams or even nightmares is exactly healthy, but somehow it helps me to identify what is going on inside my head.  This was my dream last night.  Fearful, running, scared, losing my cousin, losing my son, losing my way.

In my dream, I was trying to work out everything myself.  I was not asking for help, I was running scared.  I was not stopping to think, I was running on emotion.  In reality, in my waking hours, I have learned that the first and only place I need to turn to is the Source of all things.  God has all the answers.  He knows where someone went, He knows where I am, where I am going, and He has a grip on the situation.  When my reality turns to nightmares, He wakes me up to the fact that He has my life in His hands, He will take care of me and always has, and all those I care for and pray for. 

Was my dream a warning from God?  I don't think so, I think it was more a recognition that I have suffered a lot of loss this past week, and haven't really dealt with it.  The part about my son; because I am missing him and his family.  My fear of losing him triggered that part of the dream.  The part about the thugs hanging around?  There are always thugs in your life, waiting for opportunity to scare you, hurt you, or paralyze you with fear so that you are useless.  Apparently, I seem to have many thugs the past week, Death being the biggest of the bullies.  However, I know something the thugs don't know. 






In the end, we win. 

Psalm 46:1 - 6.  "God is our refuge and our strength.  A very present help in trouble.  Therefore we will not fear, even though the earth be removed and though the mountains be carried away into the midst of the sea: Though it's waters roar and are troubled, though the mountains shake with its swelling. 

There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God: the holy place of the tabernacle of the Most High. God is in the midst of her.  She shall not be moved.  God shall help her, just at the break of dawn."

Copyright © 2011 by Susan Linn-Gomez. All Rights Reserved.