Good morning…
In the middle of the night, I woke from a dream. I went back to sleep and I just woke again. I felt profound peace in the middle of the night, and now I am trying to piece together the dream details and mine for their meaning. Here is the dream I experienced last night.
Behind our back fence there is a scout lodge, tall trees, and a campfire circle. On that plot of land, our family was helping to host an adoption day for a dog rescue agency. Having browsed the dog rescue website ourselves, we were wondering if one specific, golden retriever might be the next member of our family. In the midst of the crowded adoption gathering, somehow the light colored golden who had piqued our interest slipped from her collar and started running away. Frantically worried about the dog’s well being and feeling somewhat responsible as a helping host, the natural inclination of my human nature said, “Chase after that dog!” Yet, somehow amid my anxious angst I were spurred to pray, and God’s Spirit in me spoke a different message. “Right here is exactly where you are supposed to be. Stay still. Wait. You are not to pursue.” This is when I felt filled with a profoundly deep peace. Then into my mind popped something someone said in our Friday class: “When we seek God’s answer and obey the message we receive, we are given the gift of freedom.” And I recall adding to the conversation, “Being obedient to the will of God, we also receive the gift of peace.”
My old training as a therapist kicks in whenever I remember a vivid dream. Privately for myself and together with clients, I would analyze significant dreams, believing that God has always used dreams to close the gap between earth and heaven, between human hearts and the heart of God. For me, these five questions live at the heart of any dream interpretation.
What title sums up this dream? Obey God’s Spirit to feel God’s peace.
What central emotions fill the dream? Hope for a new bond. Worry for the well being of another. Feeling fearfully responsible. Anxious angst, “Chase after? Pursue?” Profoundly deep peace was mine as I obeyed God’s will and not my own.
What surprises me about this dream? I am surprised at the peace I physically experienced as I prayed for God’s direction instead of following my human urge to anxiously chase. Could the dog have been following the will of God, leading to her own peace and freedom?
What angel figure appears and what message is given? An angel figure did not appear, but God’s Spirit took form internally as I was spurred to pray. “Right here is exactly where you are supposed to be. Stay still. Wait. Do not pursue.” Freedom and peace are byproducts of obedience.
How does this dream play my song right now? On a surface level, the heart of our family is open to bringing home the right next dog or puppy. On a deeper level, I am learning to respond to my anxious human urges with prayer, “What is Your perspective LORD?” Peace and freedom come when I obey the Spirit’s wisdom. On the deepest level for me, this dream is another form of God’s affirmation, “Right here is exactly where you are supposed to be,” a deep knowing which has eluded me with since our painful move from small town PA to Atlanta, GA thirteen years ago.
“I, Nebuchadnezzar, was at home taking it easy in my palace, without a care in the world. But as I was stretched out on my bed I had a dream that scared me—a nightmare that shook me. I sent for all the wise men of Babylon so that they could interpret the dream for me. When they were all assembled—magicians, enchanters, fortunetellers, witches—I told them the dream. None could tell me what it meant. And then Daniel came in. His Babylonian name is Belteshazzar, named after my god, a man full of the divine Holy Spirit. I told him my dream. “Belteshazzar,” I said, “chief of the magicians, I know that you are a man full of the divine Holy Spirit and that there is no mystery that you can’t solve. Listen to this dream that I had and interpret it for me,” Daniel 4:5-9 (MSG),
Sue
