THE WAVES OF RENEWAL
|
I had a powerful dream that left me puzzled until recent times. I was standing with our church elders outside of an old , whitewashed , empty barn. We were standing around an open convertible listening to some Vineyard worship tapes on its tape deck and having a good time. Suddenly this great wave came from the river behind the barn and washed right over us .It was probably about 15 ft high. We stood there drenched. One of the men said "Boy was that ever something" We seemed to enjoyed it and try to listen to the tape again. But now it's garbled. I pull off a clear plastic panel and water drains out. It's salty , so I go through the barn to the river side to get a hose to wash it out. I notice the river is building up but turn around and go back through the door with the hose. As I'm walking through the barn suddenly this voice said "...and the next wave will be 20 times greater than the hreatest wave thats ever happened. " I look back out the barn window and see a wall of filthy brown water coming down the river that goes up out of sight. Thinking the guys will be swept away I yell something to them and head deeper into the barn for protection. As I head through some inner door I hear the wave overhead and realize it will take barn and all and fear the barn will collapse on me. The water hits, and bursts through the doors and windows and carries me toward the back windows. The wave is utterly massive, beyond comprehension. The next thing (I'm starting to wake up) I'm on this hill on the other side of the river looking down to where the barn had been. It's all gone. Everything. Now it's just a beautiful pasture like scene. No barn, no car, no people. I wake up and the presence of God is filling our bedroom.
InterpretationAside from the personal applications to my own life and ministry here are some general things. 1. There are two waves. The first is enjoyable but messes everything up. It is salty but not filthy. It soaks us. Afterwards we want to normalize things. - get the hose. Everything is still standing.2. The whitewashed barn represents a useless structure, probably the church of man's making. Built to be full of life it is whitewashed and empty, We were outside but still associated with it. The sense is the barn was definitely ours! 3. The river is God's river. I puzzled over the wave because of the filth, could it be God? Yes. The second wave is huge brown and dirty because of all the filth and garbage it will sweep away. In the two years after this dream our entire church was swept away, people and all. Just like the second wave Nothing was left. God showed us it was never His church we had started. But I feel the second wave is indicative of what is coming, huge and taking everything before it. What will be left is cleansed.
|