"But God came to Abimelech in a dream by night, and said to him, Behold, thou art but a dead man, for the woman which thou hast taken; for she is a man's wife." (Genesis 20:3)
I just awoke from a very troubling dream. Usually soon after a awaken I forget (if I remember at all) what it was, but this one is particularly stubborn. It continues to gnaw at my thoughts. Much like this dream Abimelech had, I feel mine has some prophetic value to it, but it is escaping me at the moment. And I don't have a Daniel nearby to interpret it for me. Oh well.
The good thing about the dream is - it is driving me to pray. First of all, for those who were in the dream. I remember each one very clearly. I pray for their protection, I pray for their souls, I pray for their safety. And I pray a blessing over each one. They and I used to be very close at one time; however, life changes in our situations have split our relationship. Frankly, that makes me very sad. But, God has placed them in my dreams to cause me to remember them in love, have mercy on them, and do what they won't allow me to do in the flesh. Pray for them.
Secondly, it has challenged my intentions toward them. It causes me to stop and re-evaluate how I feel toward them and make sure my heart is (still) right. To this day, if one of them came to me with a problem I would be there for them. Hurts aside (because I put them on the cross with Christ), they are still my brothers and sisters in Christ and in my heart. Much like Abimelech, what I have done I did with a clean heart and conscious, so I have nothing from which to hide and nothing for which to apologize. Still, it showed me in my dream where my heart stood. I am well pleased.
What I do with this now is not clear. I only know my heart is right before God and I have spent the past half-hour or so just meditating before God and praying. His will is done. I love how God comes to us in our sleep - when our defenses are down, our hearts and minds are open to Him, and He can speak to us without all the outside noise to distract us. He is so awesome!
Today I challenge you to ponder, to meditate, to re-evaluate those relationships in your life. Some have faded over time, some have died, some have become poisonous. Pause long enough to let God speak to you about each one. Check your heart and mind your thoughts. Then pray. For yourself first. Then for them. We are told to love our neighbor AS OURSELVES, so we must first get our hearts right before we can ever expect to conduct ourselves in a godly manner with others. Is your heart clean before God? I know you may still struggle with some things - I get that, I do, too - but is the struggle in your heart or is it with your flesh? Cleanse your heart and then begin subduing the works of your flesh. It can be no other way.
I'm praying for you right now, as well. Be blessed.
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