I think sometimes God chooses to speak to me while I’m sleeping because I can be so dense when I’m awake. This is just a thought but if you know me well you know this can be true (-; So last night I had a dream where I was in this intense battle. I was in this poor neighborhood and I was in a shootout. I had a gun and I was in a death match with I think just two guys. It felt like a very guerilla warfare type scene so needless to say…it was pretty intense. I was hiding behind walls and trying to outsmart the guys that were coming after me but I couldn’t seem to do it. I was getting frustrated because I was starting to worry that I wouldn’t make it out alive. I was getting tired and I couldn’t seem to get a drop on this one dude.

Then the dream shifted and got a bit more real….

I started running in the neighborhood away from the battle and I began to get frustrated with myself but it was clear at that point that my frustration exceeded the scope of the dream. I started feeling like I couldn’t make myself fight to the death and I began to get angry at myself for being afraid and running away. It was at that point that I briefly realized that I was dreaming. As soon as I realized that I was dreaming I started to pray. I was still in the midst of this battle but the dream just seemed to take on a new dimension. I was still running from the guys who were trying to kill me but I was also praying. I said something like, “God, I hate that I’m always afraid. This is your dream and I give it over to you so do with it whatever you want.”

The strangest thing happened at that point in the dream. Remember I’m still running away in this poor neighborhood from guys who are trying to kill me. You would think that maybe God let me turn around and just start kicking butt and taking names. As soon as I got done praying I literally started to fly. I felt a force come over me and I started flying in the dream. I flew over the neighborhood and almost into the clouds. It was clear that I did not have the ability to fly but whatever force came over me started carrying me and I was out of the situation….then I woke up.

Moral of the story: Have you ever found yourself in some type of battle? You might be in a battle right now and if you are in one, you know it. Sometimes I find myself in battles and I’m winning. It may be something small like a sports battle or a battle to get something done but I know what winning feels like. But then there are battles like the one in my dream. I couldn’t win. I was trying as hard as I could to get the drop on these guys but I couldn’t outsmart them no matter how hard I tried. Battles like this can be a blessing in disguise if we can begin to understand the purpose behind them.

Have you ever just stopped to pray? What’s funny to me is that I have experienced God’s ability to come through many times and yet I forget how easy it is for him to rescue me out of impossible situations. What for me may seem like an impossible circumstance is for him an easy solution. Sometimes I think God allows us to get in these situations just so that he can demonstrate how strong he is.

So here’s the question of the hour….have you stopped to ask him for help in whatever battle you are in? Have you realized yet that there are battles that you just can’t win? I may not be one of the smartest people you’ll ever meet but I’m really determined. It is hard for me to admit defeat in any arena but sometimes this is exactly what we need to do. There are some battles out there that you can’t win on your own. My challenge to you is to stop and pray. If you really believe that God loves you and that he is all powerful…why wouldn’t he come through? I’m not saying that it’s going to look like an immediate answer to your prayer but he is good all the time….give it a shot.

Thanks,

Chris