by Steve Hale
"Now in the second year of Nebuchadnezzar's reign, Nebuchadnezzar had dreams; and his spirit was so troubled that his sleep left him" ( Daniel 2:1, NKJV).
Have you ever had a dream, so dynamic, that it left you in a cold sweat? Dreams are a reality! Most people admit having them, but are shy went it comes to talking about them.
Folks, this is not Neo-Pentecostalism! The age of miracles performed by human hands has passed ( 1 Corinthians 13:8-13). None of us, then, can interpret dreams, for as Daniel said: "But there is a God in heaven who reveals secrets, and He has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will be in the latter days Your dream, and the visions of your head upon your bed..." ( Daniel 2:28). God speaks to us today through the Bible, so we are not gifted with the Supernatural ability to interpret dreams.
But, we still have them. Last night, I had one that seemed so real, I woke up sweating. I dreamed that Cindy, the children, and I were in a high rise building. Suddenly the fire alarm sounded! People hustled to the stairs and elevators to evacuate.
Kimberly was having trouble getting through the crowd, so I took the lead. When we got to the elevator, we had to wait for its return, which took forever. Cindy wandered away as I shouted for her to stay in line with us.
When the elevator finally reappeared, I screamed for Cindy to join us. But, the crowded elevator was filled to capacity. She was crying, and I was struggling from the back, trying to give her my place, when the doors shut! I could hear her sobbing through the doors, as the fire alarm was sounding powerfully in the background.
The fire alarm turned out to be my alarm clock waking us up at 5:30 this morning. It seemed so real, yet it was all a dream. I had to go and wipe the perspiration from my brow in the bathroom.
Dreams! Some are so convincing, people have been recorded sleepwalking, and acting out roles in their dreams! Ten years ago, when we moved here, we had a lot of dreams for the church.
We set a goal day for 555, and many never thought such an outlandish number could be reached. 598 were present that Lord's Day morning. Now, we regularly have more than 555 for Sunday morning worship!
We dreamed of more property, of completing the third floor to the educational annex, and of buying the county property to our north. We envisioned a new building that would facilitate future, wonderful growth.
God has blessed us, and fulfilled these dreams. What's next? Let's keep dreaming, working, and praying! We have the one real and living God that can make great dreams come true!