If I Can Dream

I can’t count the number of times that a busy day or week has welded itself to my subconscious. Between my work, home, and ministry duties, there are times when I either drop into a deep sleep, or cannot sleep at all. There have even been times when I’ve been trapped in a nightmare so real that I would wake up covered in sweat. I would immediately walk through the house checking every door and out every window for the invisible demon that was chasing me. When this happens, even as a grown man I cannot separate the real from the unreal, and drifting back to sleep is hard.

Then there are the comforting dreams, again so real that you can know you’re dreaming and don’t want to wake up. I’ve dreamed that my own father came back from heaven, only to wake up to bitter disappointment. I’ve dreamed about walking with Jesus, facing the sun but never seeing His face. His robe was not white, yet a cream color that had soil at the bottom. We spoke, I don’t know about what, yet carried on a full conversation. Again, I would wake to find I’m back to reality in my bed.

I can’t begin to tell you what these mean but here is my encouragement. If it is comforting then I’ll accept that it was God speaking to me in my sleep time because He knows I am at peace with no world distractions. If it’s a night mare then it may be Satan’s way of keeping us from engaging with God, or at least finding the strength to keep working in God’s Kingdom. Satan will use every trick to get to us, to derail our faith, and life. He will infiltrate our minds and attack what is important to us in our sleep time. He’ll show us family members dying, or suffering. He’ll show the world laughing and spitting on us because we follow Christ. He will exhaust us to the point where we cannot function.

God on the other hand does the opposite. He comes into our sleep time with images of His promises. He may show us what we see as our loved ones in Heaven with Him, our children saved by His Word, our health and finances renewed, and our own faith in revival. He will assure us of His plan for us, and finally give us our first breath as we wake, and our first image of reality with the opening of our eyes, just one more day.

So now, when I lay down after a busy trying day or week, I will rest knowing that if I can dream in peace, it’s because God is wide awake, protecting me from the evil one. The great thing is, so can you.

Mike Shindruk

www.mastershandministry.blogspot.ca