MY VISION

There was a time when I  envied those who have spiritual gifts different from my own.  Please, don’t get me wrong.  I wasn’t jealous or covetous of them and their gifts.  I simply admired what the Lord had called and equipped them to do, and I wished I could also be part of the same ministries.  Among the things I had wished for the most was to experience a vision or some other unmistakable communication from the Lord.  I suppose this desire was twofold.  Most important to me was the desire to be counted worthy enough to actually be used by the Lord.  But there was also a part of me that was worried that, unless I had such an unmistakable communication from the Lord, it meant that I was not counted among the Lord’s people.  I’ll be honest, that possibility scares me to my very core (sometimes it still does).  Consequently, I used to pray to the Lord, begging Him to send me such a communication, but not any more.  The Lord answered that prayer, and now I not only know that I do belong to Him, but I know what it is He has set before me to do.

 MY VISION

I normally do not remember my dreams, but I remember this one.  I remember it because it was different from any dream I have ever had, and because I have had it twice…

In my dream, which I am convinced was a vision, I was standing on the shore of a body of water with my family.  I knew I was with my family.  I could feel it.  But I could not see them.  In fact, I never saw anyone in my vision, I just felt their presence.

It was cold, like the dead of winter.  I could see the darkened branches of leafless trees reaching into a dreary grey sky.  There was snow on the ground with dark patches of barren ground showing through.  I looked out over the water and I could see it was frozen over with light snow drifts blowing across the surface of the ice.

Suddenly, I was standing on the ice.  I looked behind me and, though I still didn’t see anyone, I knew that my family was safe on the shore.  Then I looked down at the ice.  I sensed that my parents were trapped beneath the ice and I had to rescue them only… they weren’t really my parents?

Then I saw four giant axes being placed — without hand — on the ice.  The axes looked like fireman axes, and they were far too big for me to wield them.  There was writing on their handles, and though the letters seemed familiar, I could not read the words.  As I watched, the first ax was placed on the ice, then the second next to it to the right.  The third ax was placed on top of the first, and the fourth on top of the second, so that there were two stacks of two axes laying side by side.

Then I heard a voice that was so deep and so loud and so insistent that it was almost physical.  When I heard it, I sat bolt up right in bed, fully awake.  The voice warned:

“DESTRUCTION COMES SUDDENLY!”

It took me a while, but I went back to sleep.  The next day, I remembered every detail of my vision (I still do).  This was unusual, as I normally do not remember my dreams.  It also troubled me.  I kept hearing the voice’s warning.  So I sought the help of a friend who claimed to have the gift of interpreting dreams.

When I told my dream to my friend, he told me what it meant.  This is what he told me:

• My family is safe, but the feeling of my parents being trapped beneath the ice represents the Church and its elders.
• The snow and ice represents the spiritual condition of the Church.  Thus, the Church is trapped beneath a spiritual ice.
• The axes represent tools, most likely the four Gospels.  They were to big for me to wield to show me that I am not the one to wield them, but the Lord is.  I am merely being used as a means of wielding them.
• The warning is to the Church and the world: Destruction (final judgment) comes suddenly (without warning).
• My calling in all of this is as a warning to the Church to break out of their spiritual ice (to repent).  I have been called to warn those who will listen, and to ‘rescue’ them out from beneath the ice.  The way I am being called to do this is by teaching the True Gospel and the True Scriptures to the believers.

I wasn’t sure about this interpretation, so I shared it with my pastor.  He told me he agreed with it, and said he bothered envied and worried for me as the task the Lord has set before me will be difficult and lonely.  Traditionally, the Church has been harsh toward those the Lord sent to call them to repent, and my pastor told me that this is exactly hat the Lord is calling me to do.

This was a second affirmation, and I know Scripture says I can accept the testimony of two witnesses.  But I suspect the Lord wanted me to be doubly sure about this because, some time after I had my vision the second time, another pastor sent me an email telling me that he sees me as being another Jeremiah, the weeping prophet.  I immediately understood his message, and counted it as a third affirmation.

I now know that I have been called to warn and to teach.  I know that it will be a lonely and thankless task, but if I manage to turn just one soul to the Lord, I will count it all blessing as I know that it will mean that I will not be empty handed on the Day of the Lord.  I will have at least one gem in my crown to give to the Lord.