Saturday, January 31, 2009

Afraid to Go Up !


“But if you are afraid to go down……….” (Jdg 7:10 )
I love how God recognized the struggle in Gideon’s fearful heart and reached down to give him a reassuring sign that he need not fear because God was with him!

I think this verse could also read… “But if you are afraid to go UP!”

Several weeks ago my husband, Vic, had a dream.
He dreamed that he was confined in a very tight place, barely able to move at all. He was uncomfortable in so tight a place and wished himself out – asking God to please help him. He looked up to see glass close to his face , but when he looked through he saw ‘light’ and had a ‘knowing recognition it was the glory of God!

He told me the dream in the morning and then offered what it could mean… “I think it might have been my coffin …. I’m going to die soon. “

I am quite used to my husband’s periodic predictions of his soon-to-come departure from this earth… so I did not react except to calmly note… “Coffins don’t have glass covers!”

My husband does quite often have what he calls ‘night-visions’ that are from God and have meaning, so he tucked this one away for future reference.

A short time after the dream, he was invited by a friend to go for a flight with him in his little aircraft. Bill had fairly recently got his pilot’s license and had been asking Vic to go up with him, but Vic is nervous in airplanes . This time Vic decided to accept the invitation. It was a beautiful day with blue sky and Vic was eager to get some good aerial shots.

Vic watched Bill do the preliminary inspection of the airplane and when Bill was satisfied all the checks were good, he belted Vic into his seat – tight! The plane was a two seater with no wasted space and being soo tightly belted and the GPS right up in front of him , Vic said he could not move. He could barely raise the camera to take photos.

They took off the runway and reached altitude – but then the flight got very bumpy – the turbulence was much greater than they could have guessed !

Vic began to feel his nervousness turn to fear as the airplane was tossed and rocked and dropped ! … then he looked up focusing on the windshield in front of him.. As he looked through the glass, his dream flashed before him !! Of course!! The dream fit .. and the message ?? He would be safe.. God was right on the other side of the window. The fear left him just when Bill said, “I’m turning back, this is too turbulent.. we’ll go another time!”

I love how God is so tender toward His children.. so ready to reassure us through what ever way He can…. His Word, other people, books, and yes, even dreams !!!
Let us listen.... Our Father is speaking the very words we need to hear!
(Isa 52:6) "Therefore My people shall know My name; Therefore they shall know in that day That I am He who speaks: 'Behold, it is I.' "
*****

8 comments:

Lovella ♥ said...

Julie. .I couldn't help but smile the whole way through the story, knowing of course if Vic had met his early departure. . of course we would have heard. . .the way you told the story was just so amusing. . . but alas. . .we must pay attention to the lesson . . .like good students. . .I appreciate so much that God is so tender to his own.

Oh. . .dear. . .my word verification was memmomit. . .so close. .

Anonymous said...

I am quite used to my husband’s periodic predictions of his soon-to-come departure from this earth… so I did not react except to calmly note… “Coffins don’t have glass covers!”

LOL, my sweet friend! I'm so glad Vic is still with us, and also glad that he was able to take comfort in God's vision ... after the lie was exposed.

Betty said...

I like your response Julie..'coffins don't have glass covers'(I could almost hear you say it)..I was giggling through the story. Good lesson though!

Judy said...

Neat story! I can't usually make heads or tales out of my dreams...but I'm sure there is often a message I dont' quite grasp.

Elsie said...

It's so interesting to me that people have dreams with messages, since my dreams are just crazy stories which can always be traced back to a variety of thoughts and events from the previous day. How comforting it must have been for Vic to realize that God had foretold him he would be safe! Neat story.

Anonymous said...

This is so neat. I have night visions too! So I totally understand what Vic must have been going through. I love hearing from God most of the time. I guess we all need to overcome our fears and God knows this, so he speaks to us in the very ways He knows we will listen best.

Thoughts on Life and Millinery. said...

Dear God:

Please give Vic a dream about when to start buying stock again.

Thank you.

Amen.

James Janzen said...

I was wondering where the picture was taken. I knew it wasn't my plane. I'm surprised Bill got Vic to go up. He was soo busy holding on when i took him up that he would have been unable to take any pictures. :-) I'm glad he put aside his fears and went up again.