Dreams, Visions and the Heaviness of a Future America

6:30 am..The morning started off like a typical weekday. The alarm sounds, and by alarm I mean my six-year-old comes into the room asking for a protein bar. Translation: "Good Morning, Mom! I hope your up and ready because I'm bright-eyed, bushy-tailed and ready to get this day started with high-quailty protein!"

While getting lunches packed, breakfast made, clothes set out and the dog fed, I'm somewhat listening casually to the news. Nothing new really: news about the government shutdown, the insanity of shutting down significant monuments in Washington, the vicious motorcycle gang attack, the heated arguments going on at Capitol Hill, the people paid to come and protest in Washington, Vladimir Putin being nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize, the increase in outbreaks of diseases being credited to those "non-fully-vaccinated" children in schools. Then, I start to get this restlessness in my heart. A heaviness starts to move in. This is a big deal. These things should not be just taken in half-heartedly and shrugged off just as 'news of the day'. There should be a red flag waving around in that spirit of yours right now. All of a sudden, while zipping closed lunch boxes and giving kisses good-bye, wishing my husband and son a great day today, the gravity of the situation landed.

Thoughts of a future America sent shivers down my spine. Anxiety and concern over what my son's life would look like 20 years from now started to stir deep emotions in me. The realization that my "non-fully-vaccinated" child may, in the near future, be viewed by society as a liability hit me like a tons of bricks. I knew this weightiness, this anxiety, this burden that came on so suddenly was God's way of saying, "It's time to talk." You know that feeling when your Dad walks in the room and you know he will finish the little "chat" with a loving embrace or a comforting word, but the conversation in between will probably be heavy and definitely uncomfortable. With a fresh, hot cup of coffee poured, my journal and Bible in hand, I sat down to listen to what He had to say. He took me to Amos. The name Amos meant to bear a load. Amos was burdened with what he saw in his culture. Outright violence, sin and a culture hell-bent on spitting in God's face. Sound familiar?

9:30 am.. I had typed up a very long, in depth explanation of what was laid on my heart..then God said, "Now delete it and speak short and sweet." I obediently and annoyingly, deleted the entire post and decided to wait.

10ism am... a friend speaks of a dream she had last night about "terrible storms,flooding , dead bodies in every yard face down, the Govt. taking over your homes" and I remembered a blog from way back when that I had posted, sharing a dream that was clearly given for a purpose. If you haven't read it, check it out (Come to the Water). At the end of that post, I included a Scripture that still comes back to my memory when my vivid dreams come and go, "In a dream, a vision of the night, when sound sleep falls on men, while they slumber in their beds, then He opens the ears of men, and seals their instruction that He may turn man aside from his conduct, and keep man from pride; He keeps back his soul from the pit." Job 33:15-18

1100ish a.m... I read an article posted Govt Shutdown: 9 Million Moms and Babies at Risk As WIC Program Halts. Immediately, thoughts about what I had read this morning and a few weeks ago resurfaced from the corridors of my mind: “For three sins of Ammon, even for four, I will not relent. Because he ripped open the pregnant women of Gilead in order to extend his borders, I will set fire to the walls ...that will consume her fortresses amid war cries on the day of battle, amid violent winds on a stormy day" (Amos 1:13-14) and "How dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers...For there will be great distress, unequaled from the beginning of the world until now—and never to be equaled again." (Matthew 24:19-21).

200pm- I see an alarming post Middle East Reports Translation: Obama is a Muslim Terrorist. Of course, with my curiosity high, I take a peek and listen in. If true (and I emphasize IF), I'd consider it a bit scary but not surprising.

230ish pm.. My mom calls and casually mentions that D.C. is on Lockdown. I turn on the news to catch up on what's going on. After hearing the same information over and over again I turn it off.

430pm.. I decide to pick up where I left off on my half-deleted blog.

Why did God have me delete my perfectly rehearsed, spell-checked, full-of-scripture rough draft from this morning? I don't know fully but I have a feeling He is teaching me to really take in the things He lays on my heart. I'm quick to speak, quick to type and quick to "opinionate". In essence, I'm learning the same lesson over and over again: speak less, listen more.

I started thinking about all the recent events: school shootings, chemical gassing, bombings, etc. and it saddened me for a couple of reasons. While I realize evil is present in this world and can't be avoided, I also feel because it is so prevalent, we've become increasingly more desensitized to it. It actually wasn't alarming for me to read about 9 million moms and babies without milk, or our President possibly being a "wolf in sheep's clothing," or D.C. being shutdown because of a crazed woman driving a vehicle into the barricades. Unless these things really sink in how will we ever feel the gravity of it? What burden will we have to pray for our country? The lesson continues but adds another step... speak less, listen more, pray often.

Am I insinuating that the end of the world is upon us? No. But I'm adamantly saying that we are one day closer to the end than we were yesterday. Evil is more prevalent and we are more in need today than ever for those that call themselves Christians to stand up and intercede for this country. Can we prevent all evil from taking place? Certainly not. We live in a fallen world. But can we knock on the doors of the Almighty God who DOES have the power to steer this ship? Absolutely. I am constantly reminding myself that God is Sovereign and He is most definitely in control of this world and yes, even Washington, "for all things in heaven and on earth were created by him – all things, whether visible or invisible, whether thrones or dominions, whether principalities or powers – all things were created through him and for him. He himself is before all things and all things are held together in him" (Col 1:16-17). That gives me a firm footing, a solid foundation, a joy that won't be taken from me...in midst of the confusion of ObamaCare, gun control and government dictatorship.

So why pray, you ask? As any good parent would say, I believe God says the same, "Because I said so." King David asked a similar question, but instead of trying to figure out why God has ordered things this way, He decided to face the more important question, "...what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him? – Psalm 8:4. It would do us all good to remember we are not God. We can't think like him. We can't begin to comprehend why he does what he does. If we had all the answers, then faith would be null and void, absolutely unnecessary. So, I chose to have faith.

Faith that my prayers matter.

Faith that He is listening.

Faith that even if prayer is more for my growth than anything, then it's worth it.

Faith that I can take Him for His word that says, "the eyes of the Lord are toward the righteous and His ears are open to their cry." Psalm 34:15.

I'll leave you with a poem I read today. I hope it helps put things in perspective for you just as it did for me.

He Maketh No Mistake

My Father's way may twist and turn,
My heart may throb and ache,
But in my soul I'm glad I know
He maketh no mistake.

My cherished plans may go astray,
My hopes may fade away,
But still I'll trust my Lord to lead,
For He doth know the way.

Though night be dark and it may seem
That day will never break,
I'll pin my faith, my all in Him,
He maketh no mistake.

There's so much now I cannot see,
My eyesight's far too dim;
But come what may, I'll surely trust
And leave it all to Him.

For by and by the mist will lift
And plain it all He'll make;
Through all the way, though dark to me,
He made not one mistake.

(A. M. Overton)