Dream World

A few nights ago, God gave me this dream:

The world was a busy and confusing place. People, not seeming to know where they were headed, travelled at a pace akin to a brisk walk – oozing urgency. Young mothers were racing, in exceedingly impractical stilettos, with prams occupied by their screaming infants. Business men in sharp, suave Italian suits scurried down the street, briefcases swinging helplessly at their sides, whilst constantly checking the time on their Rolex watches. There was a real weightiness about the situation, the reason for which I couldn’t quite identify.

Then, all of a sudden, I was approached by a man. I knew instantly that he exhibited marks of a celestial being – but I could never quite figure out whether he was Jesus or an angel. He told me, in both an authoritative and gentle way, that I needed to do something for him. He told me that something terrible was about to happen and all these people, that I saw before me, did not know it was going to happen. He told me that there would be a number of buses, each arriving and departing at certain and precise times, from the same location, which would relocate people to a place of safety. He told me that it was my job to tell people that something bad was about to happen and to encourage them to get on the buses. Then he left me.

I was filled with an incredible sense of urgency. I saw all these people before me – mothers, children, the elderly… “Quick! Quick!” I shouted. “Something terrible is about to happen! We need to all get on this bus, and it will take us to a safe place!” I was met with cold stares, confused expressions and even laughter. “Please, please listen to me! We all need to get on this bus! You… sir… won’t you get on the bus, so that you can be taken somewhere safe? You… what about your child? Don’t you want her to be safe? Quick, we must hurry, we don’t have much time!”

After a long time of shouting, I managed to persuade a few people to get on the bus with me. Mostly women and children. Some elderly people and a couple of other people who seemed to trust that I was telling the truth.

All of a sudden, the doors of the bus shut. A brilliant light flooded our eyes and by the time we had adjusted them to see again, we had left the place that we knew. Instead, we had been transported to a whole different world. I wouldn’t be able to explain it – it was magical. Everything moved at a slow, pleasant and refreshing pace – there were mountains, and lakes and there was snow everywhere. People, who were already there, were dressed in big fur coats. Everything the eye could see sparkled as if it were coated in a layer of glitter. I wanted to stay there forever. But the man I had met earlier was in this world – he walked up to me and said “It is time to go back and collect the others”. So I went.

After a few trips, I was coming back with fewer people each time. By the fourth or fifth attempt at persuading people to get onto the bus, I had become sincerely dejected. Nobody would listen. Nobody would believe me. I became saddened and angry. This wonderful place was there waiting for them, and all they would face in this world was some sort of terrifying disaster. I decided that I’d had enough – they were so infuriating. “Stuff them,” I thought. “I’ll just leave them to suffer and I’ll go and live in that wonderful place forever, they’ve had their chance.” So I got on the bus, for what I thought would be my final time, and went back to the safety of that world.

As soon as I stepped off the bus, the man who had set this all in motion stormed up to me in a blazing rage. I had never seen anybody so angry. He looked so different. “How dare you! How dare you give up on those people!”

“But they wouldn’t listen to me,” I said, attempting to defend myself. “I gave them plenty of chances to get on the bus, but they kept laughing at me. What’s the point in telling them the same thing again and again if they won’t listen?”

“You will go back, and you will keep telling them that they need to get on the bus. You will keep telling them that getting on the bus is the only way that they will be safe. It’s too dangerous for them to stay where they are. Don’t be discouraged or angry if they don’t listen to you – just keeping telling them what they need to hear.”

So I went back – time and time again. I was exhausted and frustrated, but I did as the man had asked me to. I only brought a handful back with me each time, but after about six more trips, I realised that those handfuls of people added up to quite a lot when they were together in this new, safe world. I was glad I had gone back to get them. The man then came up to me again and said “It is time. You will not go back there anymore. It is the end of that world now. It has gone, and all the people with it who would not believe you. But these people are safe because they chose to accept what you were telling them as truth. Aren’t you glad, now, that you didn’t give up? Look how happy they all are. Look how many people still live, even though many people have died.”

And that was it. It was an amazing dream. I knew I was dreaming about the end of the world – but I didn’t actually see it happen. I don’t believe that God is going to transport all his children out of this world by the bus-load like that, or that we’ll all be wearing fur coats in heaven and playing in the snow! (Well, you never know actually…) But I was impacted hugely by the dream. I believe that God was telling me not to give up on evangelism. No matter how frustrating it can be at times, no matter how unresponsive people are to the gospel message, no matter how afraid we are or even ashamed, and no matter how much we feel like just giving up, we need to persevere with evangelism. It’s our duty, as Christians, to share the good news of Christ with people who don’t yet know him! Just think – there was a time that you did not know him, so how would you know him today if somebody had not told you about him?

God speaks to us in so many different ways – he speaks to us when we read the Bible (his word), he speaks to us through other people, he speaks to us in our dreams and he speaks to us in so many other ways! We need to be receptive to his word – listen to it, dwell upon it, and act on it.

How is God talking to you today?