More Than Just a Dream

Sometimes God can speak to us in our dreams. We just need to be willing to listen.

September 21

I woke up this morning from a dream. It left me wondering, what was that about? I knew it was more than just a dream. At the beginning of the dream, a gentleman came up to me and was criticizing me for being inconsiderate to the gentleman who lives next door. He was really upset with me. I didn’t understand because I hadn’t known there was a problem. He said the problem was me and my entire family. This man was really upset with me for the pain and suffering I had been causing our neighbor. I was left dumbfounded.

Shortly after that, I was walking out of my house and I see the next-door neighbor and he confronts me himself. He is sitting on his front porch and is starting to yell at me. He is saying how horrible my family and grand-kids have been. We have been loud and inconsiderate. I apologized and said they were just kids, and that no one was trying to upset him. I tried to assure him we would try to do better. But honestly, I was clueless as to what he was talking about. Then he got even madder and said, “It’s you too! You and your screeching tires as you pull out of your driveway!”

I thought, my tires don’t screech as I pull out of the driveway. They might squeak a little if I touch the curb. Throughout the whole dream, I kept thinking, I don’t understand, this doesn’t make sense. It was then that he raised his hand to shake his fist at me and I could see the bandages. He had obviously had surgery on his hand and it was all bandaged up. I could now see he was in pain. His face was contorted. It wasn’t just anger, it was pain. Immediately my heart toward him changed. I had been a little frustrated and confused. The accusations seemed so out of place. Now, I have compassion for this poor man. I apologized for any suffering we had caused him and told him we were not intending to cause him more. I told him we would all try harder from now on. I was left with a feeling of loss and not really knowing what to do.

When I woke up, I asked God, “What was that all about?” Then he showed me. When we are in any kind of pain, emotional or physical, every little annoyance bothers us. Even just being a little sad or tired or hungry can affect how we perceive the world. Things we probably wouldn’t even notice if we weren’t in pain. We have to be careful not to blame others as if they are the source of our pain. That will only make things worse. Those annoyances may be hurting us right now, but it is only because we are already in pain. We need to recognize the source of our pain, then we can work on healing. If we start to blame others, we may never deal with the real issue. Just like the man in my dream. He needs to take care of his hand, so it can heal. If he doesn’t take care of the real problem, it can get infected, and the pain will increase. When the pain increases, more and more outside issues will bother him. If this cycle of avoidance and blame continues he could eventually lose his hand.

The enemy likes to hit us when we are down. When we are tired, hungry, sad, or in pain. It is so much easier to take offence and start pointing fingers. When we recognize this and give people the benefit of doubt, life is much sweeter. Most people, especially the people who love us, do not intentionally try to upset us. I tell myself if this is still an issue when I am not tired, hungry, sad, or in pain, then I will kindly talk to them. Most of the time, I never have to say a word.