dream

Last night I had the strangest dream . . .

Julia Loren

I had a dream last night that a great fog rolled swiftly in as dark as smoke from a giant fire. I was standing outside a train station with several others looking at the sky watching the fog roll across the valley. Quickly, the fog obliterated the sun. Everyone in the world came to a stop because they could not see to go on. An unsettling quiet prevailed. Then suddenly, the heavens opened up - with a band of light across the top of the fog bank. There angels ascended into the light and descended into the fog, singing to the Lord. In the upper left section of the lighted sky, several cards were laid out - kings and queens. I later thought it looked like a royal flush. But my attention fixed on the angels. As suddenly as the fog took over, it disappeared. Everyone stood outside in stunned silence. Some wept. No one moved for a long time, pondering the meaning of the event. Then, someone's voice came over the stations' loudspeaker and gently explained the way to salvation, giving an alter call that everyone responded to, some on their knees. We all knew it was the right thing to do as no one could possibly question the existence of God after that event.

Then I found myself hovering just above an African plain where every variety of animals ran towards me from the distance. I heard a voice saying, "Do not stop to drink the water. Run!" It was as if the fog had frightened them and they took off in search of safety. But it was more than that. I think the sounds of war ran them off and I believe that the waters were poisoned.

I awoke at about 5 a.m. and pondered the meaning of the dream. I have yet to come to any conclusions as to the meaning. Only time will tell how dark is the dark to come. Only God knows if that darkness is the evil of war and whether the US will send troops onto the African continent and flush out every African and Arab “king” – thus gaining the upper hand over terrorism. I do have a sense that no matter what happens in the months and years to come, God’s angels will gather the harvest and few of us will have any sense to explain what is happening as it unfolds. We are all participants and observers in these last days, seers and evangelists, alternately shaken by fear and abounding in faith - the boundaries blur under the wave of the Master’s hand.

Jesus is in the process of sharing His heart with anyone He can. More people are reporting dreams and visions of impending danger on a local and international level. What do we do with those dreams and visions?

Pray. I have a theory based on much experience, that intercessory prayer leads us to intercessory action. I also believe that when God gives a dream or a vision that the interpretation comes to us on three main levels – as insight into our emotions and psychological state, as direction for prayer for another or for the nation, and as an invitation to snuggle in closer to Jesus and wait with Him. Jesus wants to share His heart with us as if He cannot tolerate the horror of what He sees and needs to talk with us about the days to come. He tells us not to traumatize us but to forewarn, to invite us to pray and strengthen us to act.

Many of the visions and dreams I have been receiving this year are apocalyptic in nature and have come to pass. This is new for me! I usually get general info that bless individuals or groups as God releases prophecy or words of knowledge. You know, the usual stuff that makes someone realize that God really, truly does know his or her name. And I am not the only ordinary Christian out there reporting an increase in such pre-disaster dreams and visions. Many people in many different churches are talking about dreams and visions that gave warning of something about to happen – but the interpretation was unknown.

The most recent news the Lord told me as I read a verse from Revelations during my morning devotions, came in the form of a verse literally shouting from the page, “There will be no more delay!” (Eat that Harry Potter!) The next day, President Bush commenced bombing Afghanistan. I was quite shaken by that experience I must admit.

Prior to that I was deep in worship during a conference in Kansas City last Spring and found myself caught up in a vision that was so horrendous that I was immediately traumatized. (Still am.) I returned to my hotel room and through my tears, told my traveling companion that I was going home to a major violent incident and that I hoped it would not occur on my school grounds. Within 36 hours, I was in a meeting with my school leadership team when the secretary popped her head in and told us that a local school, Santana High School, had a shooter on campus. Two days later, I stood at Santana High School as an extra trauma counselor watching the students, teachers and parents milling around, pointing out where their classmates had been shot and fell to the ground, sobbing into one another, the boys as stoic as possible, their blanched faces betraying their emotions. (It was as close to hell as I ever want to go) And I realized that this day and the nightly newscast images comprised the first part of that vision in Kansas City.

The vision of crying teenagers and fallen classmates immediately dissolved into masses of people running down a city street while two, tall buildings collapsed behind them sending a dark cloud billowing fast on their heels…

… the Trade Center attack. I was so involved in picking up the emotional pieces of the aftermath of the school shooting and critical incidence preparations for future school district disasters that I had forgotten about the second half of the vision. Or maybe it was too much for my psyche to remember. After watching the news of the Trade Center attacks, I realized that I had already “seen” the event come to pass in Kansas City. Yet, I had no time to ponder the vision because I was immediately asked to go onto the local Marine Corps base to assist the teachers and children should they need an extra trauma specialist on hand.

Much later, I spent a couple days deep in the throws of personally experiencing the trauma – not from the incident itself – but from having “seen” it ahead of time. It was as if I had a bad case of PTSD – not “post traumatic stress disorder” but a more spiritual version I call “Prophetic Trauma and Stress Disorder”. The only way to deal with it is to talk about it. We need to talk about what we “see”. Rather than keep it all inside, we need to process dreams and visions and let others join in prayer for the outcomes and prayer to lift the burden of “seeing” from us…before the Enemy does a tap dance in our heads.

Both visions led immediately to intercessory action (going to the site of the shooting and the military base) before I could launch into intercessory prayer. There goes my theory. Things are happening too quickly to follow the order of dream – interpretation – intercessory prayer – intercessory action! That is exactly what Rick Joyner (looking as haggard as a man in the throws of PTSD) and others told us during the Prophetic Conference in Kansas City last Spring. Just as you get the vision or dream – it comes to pass before intercessory prayer can avert disaster!

For that reason, I have decided to take dreams and visions seriously and pass them immediately along to others. They may be nothing. But then again, they may be useful guides to prayer and intercession given to the community to ponder. So, rather than spiraling down into a spiritual case of PTSD, I've decided to pass my dreams and visions along to friends who pray for the interpretation and for me. Then, I snuggle into the arms of Jesus and hang out for awhile, lingering longer than usual. I hope you do, too.

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