Dreams are fascinating. They reveal to us our subconscious . . . and while I’m not an analyzer of dreams, I do think many (maybe not all) can be revealing if we meditate and pray about their meaning.
Warning – the following might not make complete sense . . . but hang with me.
As I was away these past three weeks, for the first time in a long time I began to remember my dreams. Perhaps because the first one was so jarring. I woke up literally with an anxiety attack, which was a very new thing for me.
In my dream it was a Sunday morning and was time to leave the office to head to West. Basically . . . it was time to preach.
I had nothing. No words. No transition points/sentences (those are really big things in my brain as I finalize the message). The clock kept inching closer to 10 am. I began to panic and ended up hyperventilating in the dream. I woke myself up literally in the middle of some kind of massive anxiety, shallow breathing, etc.
It was a bizarre yet revealing experience. It pushed me to ask myself, “Do I really dread preaching that much?”
“Do I not have what it takes to be a decent preacher anymore?”
“Have I traveled into burnout so far that I’ve lost the passion for preaching?” I pushed the dream to the back of my mind. I reminded myself I had several
Sundays to rest, reflect, and pray about God’s use of me.
Saturday night I had a different dream.
I was getting ready for worship and everywhere I went I kept finding ADORABLE
newborn kittens in the most random of places. Each time I found one, I experienced great joy. However, after finding seven, I found the dog that had given birth to them. It was dying of measles. (Yes, I know this is weird . . . it’s a dream).
Scott was going to take the dog to the vet to be put to sleep before worship and there was great sadness. The kittens would be without a parent. Not to mention how were we going to get rid of 7 kittens? (I had list with many of your names . . .)
However the most important part of the dream was the recurring phrase, “New life . . . beautiful life of abundance and joy CAN come from dying things.”
As I meditated, both dreams connected and had clarity.
