I was starting with a new group on Monday, and when I got to
the site, at first there weren’t very many people, but then the group started
to grow and grow. It didn’t move into different rooms like in my dream, but it
was very noisy and chaotic because the room we were in was large and has an
echo and you can hear people in the hallway and in other rooms when they’re
talking. It was very much like my dream, and thank God I listened to His voice because
I was prepared with enough supplies for everyone and I was physically and
emotionally prepared as well.
Not all dreams come from God – some of them do come from the
other place at the opposite side of heaven – and not all the dreams that do come from God are prophetic.
Sometimes He’ll send a dream to encourage you or to let you know you’re loved.
Sometimes it’s a dream about someone or something that he wants to remind you
about to help you see something you need to see. The dream itself may not come
true – or it may even be a dream that is about something that happened a long
time ago – but if the dream is from God it’s meant to tell you something. If it’s
coming from the other place, it’s meant to do what the ruler of that other
place does best which is to frighten you or make you feel bad. Those dreams you
can throw right out the window, but the ones that are from God are important to
listen to and take into your heart because even if they’re just there to
encourage you, we all need encouragement, so why not enjoy it?
In John 13, Jesus has been telling His disciples about the future, describing His betrayal and death
on the Cross and His resurrection, and in verse 19 He says, “I am telling you now before it happens,
so that when it does happen, you will know that I am who I am.” That’s the New
International Version translation, but I think it’s even better in the New American
Standard Bible, “From now on, I am telling you before it comes to pass, so that
when it does occur you may believe that I am He.” I like that use of “From now
on,” – there is something about that, a promise that He will continue to tell
us things before they come to pass. That it is not just for that time only and
with only those people. In the International
Standard Version, there’s something else that I like, “I’m telling you this now
before it happens, so that when it does happen, you may believe that I AM.” He
Is. He doesn’t change, He just is.
In Exodus 3:14, when Moses sees the Lord in the burning bush
and he asks the Lord who he should say is sending him to help free the children
of Israel from the oppression of Pharaoh, the Lord replies, “I AM.” Hebrews
13:8 tells us, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever.” He is.
He does not change, and He does not change His mind. When He says something, it
will come to pass, whether or not we understand the how or why, whether or not
it seems impossible, He will do what He says. Sometimes He will ask us to do
something, we may need to take a step forward in faith, He may tell us to speak to someone or go somewhere or do something new, and other times He will just tell us to believe and trust and keep doing what we've been doing. In either case, His message to us, no matter what obstacles we face, is to "stand still and see the salvation
of the Lord" (Exodus 14:13). That word "stand" is an important one, and the word "still" after it is important too. He doesn't tell us to lie down and admit defeat, He doesn't tell us to tremble in fear, He doesn't tell us to walk away. He tells us to stand in the face of the enemy, to stand still in the faith and courage of knowing that He is with us, and we will see His salvation and glory come shining through.
I was in need of encouragement yesterday. It has been a
while now that so many things have been coming at me from all directions. Just
when I feel like I’m getting closer to the light at the end of the tunnel, everything
goes dark again. I know intellectually that when that happens, when everything is
trying to pull you down, when so many things seemed designed to make you quit,
that is the time that you are in a place of great blessing. A time when everything seems impossible is the time when God's glory can be shown. But knowing it
intellectually doesn’t help with the emotions that go along with the feeling of
being attacked from all sides. When I’m looking at a reality that doesn’t look
anything like the promises of God, when I’m looking at people who are grinning
from ear to ear because they are causing me pain, when the phone rings and it’s
someone who just depresses me, when it seems there’s no good news to be found,
it’s in those times that though I know the enemy is a liar, he starts sounding
like he’s telling it like it is.
And that’s just the point, isn’t it? In Exodus 14, the
children of Israel are standing in front of the Red Sea with the Egyptian Army,
an angry and powerful army, behind them. There is no way to go but through. On both sides is
death if you tell it like it is, but when you tell it like that, you’re
forgetting about I AM. One moment they’re in front of the Red Sea, it’s sure
they’re done for, and the next they’re walking through on dry land. Then the
Egyptian Army charges after them, and gets swallowed up by the sea.
Even after I had that experience with the group yesterday,
the dream that came true so that I knew the Lord was speaking to me, even after
that I still was feeling despondent because everything else was seemingly the
same. I knew intellectually that it was the enemy talking to me, telling me that
my other dreams won’t come true, that the things the Lord has been speaking to
my heart are simply lovely dreams and nothing else. I know that the enemy is a
liar, and I know that the promises God has made to me will come to pass, but in
my weakness I was talking to the Lord and asking Him for something to encourage
me, something to help me keep on believing.
When I started writing this post, I didn’t know where it was
going. The Lord does that with me every day – He has me start somewhere and
then He takes me somewhere and then somewhere else. I just start writing, and
He leads me where He wants me to go next. When I got to the section where He had me write,
“Stand still and see the salvation of the Lord,” He had originally given me "Stand still and see the glory of the Lord." I looked up that sentence, and I
found a blog by a Christian woman in Georgia, Brenda Kent, where she had
written on that passage, and had written something beautiful that I needed
to hear. When I looked it up again with the word "salvation" instead of glory, I didn't find her blog. The passage itself is translated in many ways, but I haven't been able to find one that says "glory." But it was listening to the word that the Lord spoke to me - the word about His glory - that brought me to a place where I could read a message He needed me to hear. Here is the link to the post that I read:God is real, and the enemy is a liar. If you’re reading this and wondering and full of doubts, if you’re in a battle that seems too big to win, if everything around you is looking like the opposite of victory, ask Him to help you see His glory. Or even if you’re just coasting along, you’ve been a Christian for a while and though things are ok, they’re not what you’d hoped. There are promises that God made to you that you haven’t had come to pass and you are thinking that maybe it was just a nice dream, that member of your family He promised to restore, the health and healing He promised to bring, the word that was spoken to you that you have been holding as a secret in your heart for so long that you’re thinking He’s forgotten or maybe you just imagined He said it. Or maybe you’re that person who has been claiming His promises, walking by faith even when friends and family say you’re crazy, and maybe you’re weary of believing without seeing. If you’re in a place where you’ve started believing the lies of the enemy, this word is for you. You’re not crazy, you’re not going to be put to shame, you’re not going to be disappointed. Those who trust in the Lord will never be disappointed, and those who trust in Him will never be put to shame (Isaiah 49:23, Psalm 25:3). At the time of Pentecost, the disciples who had been in the upper room came out filled with the Holy Spirit and speaking in tongues. Many people were saved that day by hearing the message of God in their own language, but some people said they were crazy or drunk (Acts 2). There will always be people who try to tell you you're crazy to believe in God - I even had the son of a Pastor tell me that once, because his father had told him that the Bible was just a bunch of stories. But I'm here to tell you that you're not crazy. God is real, and you can believe in the promises He has made to you. Just stand still and see the glory of the Lord.
In John 14:29, Jesus says, “I have told you now before it
happens, so that when it does happen, you will believe.” He did speak to you,
He did promise you, and He told you before it happened so that when it
happened, you would believe that He is. He is everything that He has promised you and more. Stand still and see the glory of the Lord.
Blessings,
Jannie Susan
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