I have very vivid dreams which I usually remember. This can be either fun or irritating depending on the dream. I would love to know what these dreams mean, especially the reoccurring ones. Like the one where I can fly – but only so high. And the one where I am driving in Colorado and hit an icy patch and the car starts sliding ever so slowly. I push the brake to the floor but the car keeps creeping down the road on its own. There is the one where bugs are coming out of a hole in the floor. Or the one where my teeth start falling out. Or the one - never mind, you get the idea.
The other night I had a dream I came upon some people who were building an ark. This was a real ark made to the specifications in the bible. I knew what the thing was just by looking at it but I asked the people what they were doing. “Building an ark,” was the answer. (Duh) I said to them “Don’t you know that God promised to never again destroy the earth with a flood?” That was the end of the dream. Weird. But I think I remembered it for a reason.
The next day in church, our youth pastor was preaching. He had been through an all-nighter with the youth just two nights before (brave man) and he was telling us about the movie Evan Almighty. In the movie God asks Evan to build an ark. I’m thinking, “Why would God do that when he promised – hey, just like in my dream!” It turns out a dam breaks flooding the town but the ark saves everyone. If Evan thought like I did, the town would have been wiped out.
Then I thought, what if God is asking me to build an ark metaphorically. You know, asking me to do something completely out of the ordinary for my situation. It might be something that takes a long time to accomplish and may actually cause me to be ridiculed. But this ark would not be about me. God may be asking me to build it, whatever it is, for the benefit of others during some unforeseen event that He knows is coming. It might be just the thing to actually save someone down the line in ways I can’t possibly imagine now.
I wonder, am I tuned in enough to God to actually know what He wants me to build and to build it according to His specifications? Do I have the fortitude to ignore the ridicule and keep going? Do I have the wherewithal to complete this thing when I’ve misplaced the measuring tape and my arm hurts from hammering? Honestly, I don’t know. But I do know God wants what is best for me and those around me. I also know His ways are higher than mine, even when those ways make no sense what so ever at the time. I know He will comfort me when I’m down and welcome me back when I’ve taken a two-hour lunch break. I also know I CAN trust Him. So, where was that Gopher Wood?
