As I write this musing, I am in between places in which I perform ministry, though I think my calling, itself, has not changed. For I am, after all, a counselor and mentor and teacher.
My sleep
pattern is, to put it in the vernacular, “pretty messed up.” I will doze a
couple of hours in the wee hours of the morning, (often falling asleep in my
easy chair) and take one or two 1-2 hour naps during the daylight hours. (Of
course, if I wasn’t retired, I would not have the luxury of such irregular
hours).
But be that
as it may, I laid down today and dreamed a dream.
In the dream
I witnessed myself walking outside my house, and I noticed a new pair of work boots
in a ditch, strung together and nicely wrapped in cellophane. And as I went to
retrieve the boots, three or four strangers walked up, and a representative of
the group said,
“God has
something new for you to do, and a ministry for you to lead.”
Well, their
news was “news to me,” and I expect the response I gave them might have needed
some clarification.
“I am the
master of all the deserts of the earth, and the camels which walk across them.”
(and)
“I will
decide if your message is legitimate, and whether or not I pursue it.”
The dream
being over, my newfound friends took their leave, and I “went about my
business.”
About this
time, I woke up.
I have often
fancied myself an amateur interpreter of dreams, and, as you might imagine, I
was curious regarding the source of and interpretation of this particular
dream.
Pt. 2
I will leave
it to my readers to determine the source of the dream.
I have often
shared a teaching regarding where dreams come from. I think some of our dreams
may very well originate in heaven. A dream may be the result of our own inner psyche
wrestling with something in our status quo. Or perhaps a given dream originates
with the pizza we ate at midnight.
In regard the
dream I have recounted, I think the presence of the new work boots speaks for
itself. The adjective “new” implies something which is not old. It is a time
and place I have not yet been before. The work boots themselves are all about
the amount of time and energy which will be required to fulfill my next
mission.
Obviously,
the role of the messengers in my dream represents the manner in which God will
reveal Himself to me, or at least a verification that the time is at hand when
I will undertake this new ministry.
But now we
come to my response to the men and women who have taken their precious time to
visit me, and make me aware of the next facet of my unfinished destiny, or at
least the imminence of its arrival.
“I am the
master of all the deserts on the earth and the camels which walk across them.”
(and)
“I will
decide if your message is legitimate, and whether or not I pursue it.”
Initially,
and ‘til the past couple of minutes I thought that the foregoing was my
response to the messengers. However, suddenly, I’m convinced that these words
are God’s response to my present quandary, and where I go from here.
After all, He is the Master of all those “dry” or “desert” seasons, (such as the one in which I presently find myself) and He is more than capable of providing me a "camel" or means of "transportation" to navigate that proverbial desert.
And I think
the second portion of the response refers to God’s unique and personal calling with
which He invests each and every one of us, and which He dreamed for you and me
before He made the worlds. He is faithful to make Himself known to us, if we
seek Him with all our hearts (Deut. 4:29, Jere. 29:13, Psalm 138:8, 1st
Thess. 5:24), and He has no intention of leading us astray.
I believe the
days and ways of our lives have been predetermined by a loving and omniscient God
who is quite capable of revealing Himself to us, and fulfilling whatever still
remains of our destinies on the earth.
by William McDonald, PhD. Copyright pending
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