Note: Some years ago, an elderly saint who has gone on to glory said to me: ‘Pay attention to your dreams, especially the ones you remember best. Those are usually the ones the Lord gives you just before it’s time to wake up.
The Lord spoke through dreams to Joseph, the patriarch, to Joseph, husband of Mary and to many others throughout the scriptures. He still does. Pay attention when you have a dream you remember and always ask the Lord to grant you understanding of it for those are the dreams that carry a message from heaven most of the time. It may be for today, it may be for years down the road. Write it down and wait upon the Lord who gives understanding in His time.’
I don’t dream very often at all, at least not that I remember when I wake up. It’s unusual for me to have a vivid dream that I can clearly remember – very unusual.
But the admonition of the old saint came back to me early this morning. At the same time, a dream I had not thought about in a long time, floated across my mind. I pulled out my journal from 2012. Flipping through the pages, suddenly, there it was. As I read, I got more and more excited for I saw in the dream meaning that I had never seen before. I pray it will speak something to you as well.
January 2, 2012 – Journal entry
I had a very vivid dream just before waking up this morning. I was standing on top of a high dune, looking down. There were four fully mature lions “hanging out” on the sand by the waterfront. One was lying down right at the water’s edge, looking out to the sea. The other three were milling about on the sand in a casual way, several feet steps away from the water’s edge. There was a young woman among them – clearly unafraid – with her left arm over the neck of one of the standing lions, like a very loose embrace. There were a couple of palm trees off to the right and the left, swaying in the light wind.
Lions don’t naturally belong on beaches so what were they doing there? I wondered initially.
The Holy Spirit impressed upon me that the four lions represented His people from the ‘four corners of the earth’. One lion is ‘at rest’, lying down peacefully at the water’s edge. The other three are moving about, restless.
The sand is symbolic of the instability of the nations and the world system whose support for or right attitude towards the Body of Christ comes and goes like waves hitting the beach.
The young woman represents the grace of God ministering to the restless, who are stirred but as yet undecided about taking the plunge into wholehearted acceptance and joy regarding the return of the Lord Jesus. Therefore they pace back and forth indecisively.
The shoreline represents the border between heaven and earth and the sea itself, a reminder of the crystal sea before the Throne of God, spoken of in Revelation.
The peaceful lion, with his focus fixed firmly on the sea, speaks of those disciples who are eagerly awaiting the return of the Lord from a place of inner peace and joy at His soon coming. Like the lion, they are ‘looking out to sea’, undistracted by this world and its seductions.
The other three lions are unsure, insecure and struggling to come to terms with the radical implications of the coming of the Lord to take us home. They’re not looking out to sea but are focused on their own questions, doubts, worries and circumstances.
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This dream is dated January 2, 2012 – just over seven years ago. As I read through it this morning, I was stunned with its relevance to TODAY.
There’s a reason that in the dream I was watching this scene from the top of a high sand dune. Was it a call to pray for the restless lions? Was it something else?
What does this dream say to you? I believe the messages contained in it can be as varied as the people who read it.
I’d love to hear back from some of you if you’re willing to share what the Lord says to you through this post.
May His grace reveal more and more to all of us.