Awakened In The Day

When Dreams Break Through

A sudden cry broke the stillness of sleep last night.  It wasn’t the scream of pain or the shriek of fright.  It was more like the moaning of disappointment or the recollection of past hurt.  My daughter had a bad dream, and her body reacted to what was going through her mind.

Doubtless, she was recalling some major minor disappointment from the previous day.  A toy was taken or not given.  Her way was denied.  And the conflict escalated to confrontation and crying.  Now she is reliving the moment in her mind, and she cries.

And that begs the question in my mind this morning: if my daughter can be awakened in the night by the fighting she has done in the day, can I be awakened in the day to do those things about which I have dreamt all night?

At Home In A Foreign Place

There are those things in our lives (or rather in our minds) that, even the mere thought of them, thrill the deepest parts of us to the highest of heights.  They are like a foreign place you enter for the first time, and from the moment you walk through the door you feel completely at home.  Or rather, you feel like you are returning home.

When once these places have been found, we never want to leave.  And even when we must return to reality we find that our hearts never truly leave those place.  Nor do they leave us.  They stay with us.  Within us.  You could call them the ‘desires of your heart’ (Psalm 37).

Every breeze now seemingly blows from that place, and quickens our minds to recollection and beckons us to come.  At some point, hopefully, we will find the draw of that place too powerful to overcome, and we will go.  No matter how great the cost to us or how outwardly small the reward, we will be there.

We will be there because it is not about ‘things’ any longer.  Being there will supersede all else.  We will be there for the place itself.  The place is our prize.  The prize of rightness.

Stepping Stones To Home

Paul knew well the breezes from that distant place.  He endured terrific opposition and trial, yet could speak of overflowing joy and indescribable peace.  He may have been here, but his heart was in that other place.  Every moment and occurrence in life was a stepping stone.  Whether or not his steps were popular or judged right by others was insignificant.  Paul was headed to his heart’s home, and every moment along the way was redeemed by the rightness of his ultimate destination.

Near the end of his life, we read some words he wrote to his friend and spiritual son, Timothy.

“…the time of my departure has come.  I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.  Henceforth, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award me on that Day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing.”

That ultimate place of rightness with the Lord encroached backwards into Paul’s daily existence.  He found every place he entered made right by the land to which he was headed.

And that’s my prayer for us today.  May we experience the rightness of home in all that we do here.  May the recurring dreams of our hearts become the realities of our doings today and everyday.  May the security of God’s righteousness embolden us to live deeply and richly as we walk towards His voice.