The Dream (The Day of Silence)
I shared a blog post yesterday, titled, "The Day of Silence." After I posted it, I felt uneasy. I had veered from the purpose I felt in the dream when I had it, and gone down a bunny trail, feeling that the original thoughts seemed too sombre. I want to correct that, so I'm posting it again, hoping that you'll read again. Stay with me on my writing journey of obedience, friends, I appreciate your partnership in reading so much. Belinda
The dream stayed with me all day. It came in the moments before I woke up, right after a dream about forgetting pages with words to songs for our worship team (one of those dreams you get over and over when you have low-level anxiety about something.) The one I am writing about here was different, though, and the feeling of it lingered, In it, the world was utterly silent.
Last weekend we woke up on Sunday morning to a planned hydro shut down for routine maintenance that I'd forgotten about. We had no hot water, no light, NO COFFEE! What I noticed immediately was the silence. We live with many sounds that we don't hear until they're not there. The silence in my dream, though, was a complete worldwide silence--I knew that it signified the end of everything as it was the day before on earth.
Everything had stopped. There was no power, no internet, no commerce, no traffic. We had one day left, and could only contemplate everything that now was at an end. Unlike the weekend before, the power was not coming back on at 10.00 a.m. and life going back to normal.
There was nothing more to my dream. That day I was busy, but when I had a minute, I checked my Bible concordance under "silence." All I could find was a mention in Revelation 8:1 about silence in heaven for half an hour, just before the seventh seal on the scroll was broken, and the time of grace and opportunity for repentance is about to close. I can only imagine that there would be a hush before judgement and that heaven's heart would be breaking, but why half an hour? And why in my dream, a day? I don't know, but I do know that God's great story with humanity is unfolding. The reality of evil is on the daily news before our eyes--it is undeniable. The signs are there if we read our bibles, and the text says that God will not be mocked. I had received a notification that I promptly forgot from Hydro One, that there would be a power outage on May 19, but my distraction didn't change the schedule.
The fact is that there will be a "last day" for all of us. It could be when Jesus returns at the climax of history, but every day people wake up in the morning and go about their day, not realizing that for them, there is no tomorrow. In fact, a friend emailed me days ago and said, "I ask your prayers for my friend's family who grieve the unexpected loss of their wife and mom this morning in her sleep. She was an amazing homeschooling mom and friend, and we are all in shock." She went on to say that the young woman had four children, and gave the names of a son and three daughters left behind. This moment is all we can be sure of, and the fact that life on earth is finite.
How would life change if we felt this possibility more keenly? Would we be a little more careful with our words and attitudes, be kinder, or our focus be different? More importantly, would this thought shift our priorities in any way? These are the thoughts my dream prompted.
If you know God, as I do, I pray that something in these thoughts draws you closer and more rooted in your relationship with him. If you have never paid attention to your soul or to God--you are reading this, so you're alive and able to do so today. Pick up a bible and start reading, and start talking to God; look up a church and attend; ask a friend who is a believer, or me, for help. He is so close to every one of us. Waiting.
If you wonder why I see his near approach in the Bible, read Matthew 24. It is a compelling description of this time in history.
And also Romans 8:18-25
The dream stayed with me all day. It came in the moments before I woke up, right after a dream about forgetting pages with words to songs for our worship team (one of those dreams you get over and over when you have low-level anxiety about something.) The one I am writing about here was different, though, and the feeling of it lingered, In it, the world was utterly silent.
Last weekend we woke up on Sunday morning to a planned hydro shut down for routine maintenance that I'd forgotten about. We had no hot water, no light, NO COFFEE! What I noticed immediately was the silence. We live with many sounds that we don't hear until they're not there. The silence in my dream, though, was a complete worldwide silence--I knew that it signified the end of everything as it was the day before on earth.
Everything had stopped. There was no power, no internet, no commerce, no traffic. We had one day left, and could only contemplate everything that now was at an end. Unlike the weekend before, the power was not coming back on at 10.00 a.m. and life going back to normal.
There was nothing more to my dream. That day I was busy, but when I had a minute, I checked my Bible concordance under "silence." All I could find was a mention in Revelation 8:1 about silence in heaven for half an hour, just before the seventh seal on the scroll was broken, and the time of grace and opportunity for repentance is about to close. I can only imagine that there would be a hush before judgement and that heaven's heart would be breaking, but why half an hour? And why in my dream, a day? I don't know, but I do know that God's great story with humanity is unfolding. The reality of evil is on the daily news before our eyes--it is undeniable. The signs are there if we read our bibles, and the text says that God will not be mocked. I had received a notification that I promptly forgot from Hydro One, that there would be a power outage on May 19, but my distraction didn't change the schedule.
The fact is that there will be a "last day" for all of us. It could be when Jesus returns at the climax of history, but every day people wake up in the morning and go about their day, not realizing that for them, there is no tomorrow. In fact, a friend emailed me days ago and said, "I ask your prayers for my friend's family who grieve the unexpected loss of their wife and mom this morning in her sleep. She was an amazing homeschooling mom and friend, and we are all in shock." She went on to say that the young woman had four children, and gave the names of a son and three daughters left behind. This moment is all we can be sure of, and the fact that life on earth is finite.
How would life change if we felt this possibility more keenly? Would we be a little more careful with our words and attitudes, be kinder, or our focus be different? More importantly, would this thought shift our priorities in any way? These are the thoughts my dream prompted.
If you know God, as I do, I pray that something in these thoughts draws you closer and more rooted in your relationship with him. If you have never paid attention to your soul or to God--you are reading this, so you're alive and able to do so today. Pick up a bible and start reading, and start talking to God; look up a church and attend; ask a friend who is a believer, or me, for help. He is so close to every one of us. Waiting.
If you wonder why I see his near approach in the Bible, read Matthew 24. It is a compelling description of this time in history.
And also Romans 8:18-25
Comments
I’ve had dreams of end times and destruction and the presents of evil visible on earth, but there is time , today is the day of salvation and I believe that Jesus wants is to pull that soul out of world and into His kingdom- thank you for sharing your dream itcwas very profound -Linda