FEELS LIKE A DREAM

The other night I woke up feeling like I was in a dream. I tried to discern what was real; were the things I dreamt reality or surreal? Honestly, the past few weeks have felt like a dream… 

As a culture our reaction to the current happenings seem dream-like, or more appropriately, nightmarish. Today I spent time talking to a woman managing a local store about hours being cut and potential job loss. How would people, and not just a few, but masses, cope with sudden loss of income?  Here in Denver, and I am sure as well where you live, stores are closed, services are cut, restaurants are only take out or delivery and the local police said they would not be booking people for “minor non-violent crimes". Wow! That's the perfect storm--people who don’t want to cook, who have lost their jobs, with no opportunity to go out to eat and have the promise of no jail for theft. I guess we better lock things up. It just feels like a dream…  

Then, for the Brittons, a year ago we were living happily in rural Uganda where life is so different. (You can read more from Mary’s latest blog post to get the big picture  http://brittonsinuganda.blogspot.com/2020/03/britton-current-events-or-case-of-bored.html ) As recent as three weeks ago here in Denver, we attended basketball games, Acacia ran the concession stand at school, our Uganda practicum plans were in full swing, kids attended classes, church was “normal” in the usual location and the news actually talked about a variety of things. Then suddenly, there was a tragic suicide at our kids' school, statewide schools, churches and businesses closed, people made panic runs on groceries and rampant fear consumed. It just feels like a dream… 

Today as the kids, Mary, my parents and I have all just been around the house, it has given me much time to think and meditate on how we really don’t have any clue as to where this is all going. Normally some direction is discernible, a feel of how things are going to turn out, but now I feel completely at the mercy of happenings around me--out of control. It just feels like a dream…

Now, jump to the book of Revelation. Imagine John’s situation described in chapter 1, verse 10. “I was in the spirit on the Lord’s day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet…” He goes on to write some wild stuff about lamp stands, bowls of incense, plagues, and descriptions of Jesus that sound more like science fiction. Sounds like a bizarre dream doesn’t it? But let’s be honest, in the midst of this dream-like narrative there is a powerful message of a King who is coming. A King who holds all the world and it’s kingdoms in his hand. A King who promises to judge, reward and reign over His creation. 

John's dream in Revelation has deeper meaning…and that’s the same feeling I have right now; trying to discern between dream and reality means thinking deeper. Exploring what God wants us to capture from the current state of things. It may be as simple as reminding us that no matter how skilled or proficient we may be as a culture, no matter how well we design and program our comings and goings, we still aren’t truly in control. 

Proverbs 19:21 reveals, “Many are the plans in a person’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails”.

Can we willingly grasp that truth in the midst of all this uncertainty? Should we begin to humble our hearts to the reality that we don’t know what tomorrow may bring? James 4:14 tells us as much and adds on that our lives are as fleeting as a vapor. Our lives are at the mercy of the creator of the universe, the King of the dreams and the Lord over this world where we live. 

As God gives you more time at home as we socially distance, more time to think as we aren’t running around town, let’s not fail to spend time meditating on this dream-like state we are all in. Let’s all consider this King, the King of the dreams and what he is speaking to each one of us.  

-Geoff