dream
I'd like to share a vivid dream I've had several times,
over many years in different variations.
over many years in different variations.
It seems to be set in a time before professional firemen were around, when townsfolk would come to the aid and rescue of a neighbor whose house was on fire.
It's nighttime, but I can see quite clearly because of the light from the blaze. The fire is raging, coming out from the roof and some of the windows of one of the houses in the street. I can see the panic on every face quite clearly, and I can hear screaming coming from inside the house.
There are people rushing around in every direction, some are shouting out orders, while others are crying out that their loved ones are inside.
It's nighttime, but I can see quite clearly because of the light from the blaze. The fire is raging, coming out from the roof and some of the windows of one of the houses in the street. I can see the panic on every face quite clearly, and I can hear screaming coming from inside the house.
There are people rushing around in every direction, some are shouting out orders, while others are crying out that their loved ones are inside.
There is now a chain of people frantically passing buckets of water along a line from one person to the next, with the person nearest to the fire throwing bucket after bucket onto the flames.
I'm very young, maybe three or four years old, and I'm being pushed in different directions as people hurry by trying to get somewhere quickly. I know I can't help; I'm too small, all I can do is keep out of the way. I'm sad because the whole town is in anguish, with faces distorted in pain because of those inside whom they can't rescue.
A very bad thought comes to me: that even though no one is giving up, they clearly must know they're losing the battle, as the fire has taken hold and the water is having little effect.
It's at this point that the dream goes a bit weird, like dreams do, because for some reason, I knew what a 21st-century fire hydrant looks like, and there it was, just around the corner, clear as day, with a full hose reel included, ready to go.
Almost as if it had been left there by someone with this night in mind!
All I had to do was tell the townsfolk this amazing good news.
Maybe you can imagine what happens next: these folk were so involved in what they were doing that they never did find the hydrant. And that's about the time I'd wake up, usually sweating.
The Lord made it perfectly clear to me: the townsfolk are the Bride of Christ, the occupants of the house are everyone else, and the hydrant is His free gift to us – the power of our oneness in Christ that He has left here for us, specifically for this day.