OPERATOR?

365 Days of Thanksliving — Day 213

Okay, I'm not entirely sure how to write this one or how much information to share. Those who are in the know, already know.

Yesterday morning, probably within the last couple of hours of my sleep, I had a dream that was just… interesting. Now, usually, I don’t remember my dreams; and sometimes when I do, they’re just your standard “brain at play” kind of dream. That’s my opinion, anyway. Dr. Freud might have said otherwise.

This dream, though, was different. As soon as I awoke, I felt like this was one of those “God dreams”—that, or too much bad pizza. You get the idea, right?

Anyway, most of my dreams don’t center around my work as a pastor, but this one did. This dream began with me visiting a man who’d fallen quite ill. About that man: I sensed at one time he’d been a member of the church, but it had been many years since he’d “been to church.” While I’d never met the man in real life, nor even knew his name, I sensed his name began with a particular sequence of letters. (Parenthetically, in my dream, I actually looked up these letter sequences in our database.)

Back in my dream, after a short drive, I arrived at the man’s home. Upon opening his door, I found him sitting in his easy chair and sensed he was uncomfortable with me seeing him in his condition. Seeing a blanket on the couch, I folded it in half lengthwise and laid it over the man’s lap. I also sensed the man didn’t seem to have much time remaining.

This brings me to what truly caught my eye, and the focus of the dream.

On the man’s coffee table sat the day’s newspaper. In HUGE BOLD PRINT, the headline read, “CLOCK HITS MIDNIGHT.” MIDNIGHT was the key word, and my eyes were fixated on it, far more so than on the man I drove to see.

Then, I awoke. That was it!

All morning as I got ready, I couldn’t shake the dream. So perplexed, and feeling pressed in my spirit, I knew I needed to write it down. Urgently, I sped over to my office, fired up my computer, wrote down the details, added a few thoughts, then saved the file.

Now, like I said, I left out some details about the man that might be a bit too personal for a wider audience to hear. And while I’ve had “God dreams” in the past, rarely are they ever specifically for any one person. That said, truly, I’m not sure if this dream was intended for an audience of one, or an audience of many. No matter, all I could think of was this: what if God tapped me to relay a message? What if…?

Well, following some clues that were left in the dream, I pursued those signposts and did some investigative work. And this evening, I called a man for whom the dream may have been intended.

“Hello? Hi. This is Pastor Jason from New Hope. I know we’ve never met, but do you have a few minutes?”

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. I’m not a prophet. I’m no Isaiah, Jeremiah, or Apostle Peter. I’m just a guy trying to be obedient to the Lord against all my failings. And while I think God has gifted me to preach, I’ve never had the gift of prophecy. Yet, once in a blue moon, I’ll have a series of dreams that seem to bear importance, eternally speaking.

This evening, I picked up the phone, called the man I felt led to reach; and praise God, he was receptive. He opened the proverbial door to let me share my dream, and listened even to my urgings for him to take this to the Lord. He was also receptive to prayer, for which I’m grateful. What this gentleman does with all this, well, he’s in my prayers.

Here’s what I know. I have peace in my heart tonight, and for that I’m thankful. I shared what I felt compelled to share. I’m also entirely grateful for God giving me a receptive audience. The man doesn’t know me from Adam; and with so many SPAM callers these days, I’m just grateful he took my call.

Let me land this bird with this question: was this dream for one man or a wider audience? That, I don’t know. If it was for this man, I pray the soil of his heart is fertile for the Lord to work His will. If it’s for all humanity, well then, let’s pray God reaches as many as He can before the clock hits midnight (for us all). Hello? Operator? I need to make a call…

What are you thankful for today?