Dr. Johnson. Org
The dreams that I dream-12-An unknown face
One night several years back,
in a dream, I saw myself preaching to a congregation. Some of the faces in the
audience were very familiar to me, friends and members of my church, but then
as if a camera were zooming in on someone, one face stood out from the rest. It
was of a middle aged man, partially bald, medium height and stout. He was in
the 2nd or 3rd row and listening intently to my message.
I woke up the next morning
and as I recollected the dream, I remembered the face that had stood out from
among the rest, but wondered who it must be, for I had never met that person.
That Saturday, I was called
to preach in a prayer meeting held at a friends house. Friday night, as I sat
for prayer and asked the Lord what I should preach the next day, He gave me the
verses from Joel 2:12-14
"Even now,"
declares the LORD, "return to me with all your heart,
with fasting and weeping and
mourning." Rend your heart and not your garments. Return to the LORD your
God, for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love,
and he relents from sending calamity. Who knows? He may turn and have pity
and leave behind a
blessing...."
And there was a surprise
waiting for me when I reached there. There in the 2nd row sat the man the Lord
had shown me in the dream. Instantly I knew that the message though for
everyone, was specially for this man.
As I preached, the Holy
Spirit led me through several portions of the Bible where the apostacy of the Israelites
is evident. "Enquiring and worshipping Baal instead of Jehovah. The Holy
Spirit led me into speaking how christians get trapped when they involve
themselves in idol worship.
After the service, the man I
had seen in the dream came hastily to me and told me his story. He was a
believer who had got involved in idolatry and now his daughter was mentally
ill. He had done verything in his capacity to get her cured with medicines but
to no avail. He had come on holidays from another state to our native place and
was returning in a couple of days. I told him that the message that day was
specially for him from God and that he should obey accordingly and that I would
be praying for him and his ailing daughter.
It was very evident here that
God wanted to give him another chance and that's why the message-"Even
now," declares the LORD, "return to me with all your heart, with
fasting and weeping and mourning." Rend your heart and not your garments.
Return to the LORD your God, for he is gracious and compassionate..."
Whether he took the message
to heart is unknown to me for I have never seen him after that. I hope and pray
that all goes well with him and his family.