Remembering a Dream
I had a dream. Most nights I have dreams. The dreams do not always stick in my morning recollection, they seem to vanish with the dawn. However, this dream or set of dreams I do remember. They were memories and desires of my youth.
When you dream, do you remember your dreams?
In one portion of the dream, I was playing catch with my father. We had a nice long stretch of grass to play catch on. The dream was more or less a memory. It was late in the day, we were throwing the ball. My age was probably about 10/11, his about my current age now, mid-thirties. Funny just saying that is a revealing statement, but that is for another write up. I remember my father wearing a dark Green T-shirt. Even the mustache he used to wear sticks out in my mind. The stretch of grass we played on did have a drawback. About 15 feet behind each of us was a downhill slope. If it turned out that one of us made a bad throw or missed the ball, chances were we would have a bit of a run to regain the ball. Heh… there were some frustrating times I am certain for my father as my young arm would toss the ball wildly at times.
In another portion of the dream, I was playing in a little league baseball game. The dream was very clear, but this time it was more a memory of feelings and desires rather than actual occurrences. The satisfaction of getting to go up to bat. The joy of not swinging at a pitch that was called a ball. I could smell the dust of the field and see it splattered on home plate in front of me. Admittedly, the memory of the cockiness that I knew I was going to get a hit was in my mind. Then came the pitch. I hit it, it went back, back, and Wow! a homerun! Back in those days, I hit lots of “run homes”. This was a term we used when you hit the ball and due to the errors of the other team you were able to run all the bases and score. However, history serves me well in noting I never did hit a home run. The only thing close would be backyard whiffle ball with a fence 15 feet away. Still, the joy and accomplishment even upon waking up and remembering the dream of the home run rests with me at this moment. Something I was always reaching to obtain, but never quite grasped.
Sometimes, it is hard to differentiate between memories and fantastical dreams. An instance may have seemed so real, but yet, it never occured except in that sleep world. How our fears, excitement, stresses, achievements, and longings mingle in our head. Even in the daytime, when we think back upon our childhood, we only grasp slight glimpses here and there and ponder, “was that they way that situation happened?”.
How our head can rush with memories of our lifetime, both in the day and night, awake and asleep. Memories for some that may have occurred 80-90 years ago. Still, try as we may, despite millions of memories, we do not recall each one. We don’t even recall the majority of the happenings of the days of our lives.
Jesus states the following in Matt. 12:36:
And I say unto you, that every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment.
Paul gives us these words in Romans 14:11:
For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, to me every knee shall bow, And every tongue shall confess to God. So then each one of us shall give account of himself to God.
The apostle John in Revelation writes in Rev 20:12:
And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne; and books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of the things which were written in the books, according to their works.
Our minds may not remember all the behaviors, emotions, and activities which we were involved in 80 years ago, 20 years ago, last week, or yesterday; however, God does.
Psa 139:1-4 … O Jehovah, thou hast searched me, and known me. Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising; Thou understandest my thought afar off. Thou searchest out my path and my lying down, And art acquainted with all my ways. For there is not a word in my tongue, But, lo, O Jehovah, thou knowest it altogether.
God knows what was a dream and what was a reality. There will come a day in which he clears our mind so that we can see the sum total and individual parts of our being. Are we ready for that day? What will we remember when we stand before His throne? No doubt, we will be humbled. All will be humbled to be before such purity and holiness. Therefore, these thoughts come to mind, while the mind still functions here:
Pro 27:1 Boast not thyself of tomorrow; For thou knowest not what a day may bring forth.
Mat 6:33-34 But seek ye first his kingdom, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. Be not therefore anxious for the morrow: for the morrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.
Psa 26:2 Examine me, O Jehovah, and prove me; Try my heart and my mind.
2Co 13:5 Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?
I note all those to say this: According to the great power of the Word of God we shall be judged according to His knowledge of all that we have done. We ought not worry about tomorrow or be concerned about yesterday. Rather, each day, while we have consciousness of our actions, we should take a clear look at ourselves and do what is right in the sight of the Lord. If we falter, we have an advocate in heaven (I Jn. 2:1), but this is based upon the His authority and our obedience to His commands.
Act 3:19-21 Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord; And he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you: Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began.
May God bless you in your dreams and in your waking hours.