Last night I spent some wonderful time with friends and my wife. Dinner (Nachos) and homemade cheese cake with lots of fun and laughter. Those are the things you look upon and say “memories” putting aside the things of the world. Oh sure we joked about the NSA’s ability to turn on phones, computers and TVs to film and listen in, but who’s afraid of the big, bad wolf?

My trust is in Him. Certainly I pray against those things, confounding the works of darkness with my words. But at the end of it all I trust in the Lord to “keep” me. That word means “to keep, to have charge of, to protect or to save one’s life.” So, in the words of Bobby McFerrin, “Don’t worry. Be happy!”One of the conversations we had was about dreams and visions. Currently I am in a season of those. The Lord shows me so many things. I am not worried that the Lord thinks I don’t listen during the day or He finally has me quiet, like some would say, but it is His love language to me. He loves! He wants to keep me!

A few days ago I was troubled by a couple of dreams. I shared them with a close friend and my wife. A few hours later one of the things I “saw” appeared. Because it involves people at this juncture not seeming to change, I trust in the Lord’s ability to “keep” them. In my mind they are going through a deception, but are not looking for an answer. Because it was a dream of warning, I am praying for them.

Last night I had a couple of dreams that tied together with a dream from a week ago. First the older dream. (Though in God there is no time.)

Dream 1
I found myself in China, loud music playing. There were people running around a track like a circus under tents and rings of attraction. But people were not tuned in to a lot of it. There was a pallor I associated with death, a look in their eyes that indicated the loss of joy or the ability to laugh.

This morning I had a multiple dream. This is where dreams begin to tie together for me.

Dream 2
In one part of it I found myself that no matter how hard I tried I ended up in the same place. Despite multiple roads, I always ended up at this mountain top dwelling. I would take various roads and the next thing I would know is I would see the light about the snowy banks. (The location somewhat similar to the “eagle’s nest” my wife and I had until the destruction of it. Top of a mountain, views and beauty. My feeling is it was in New Hampshire.) My friend, (A friend who in real life had been murdered.) would give me instruction and we would head out again. I said “where do we want to go?” His response was “down.” We never were able to get somewhere else though. Upon waking I thought “how interesting is that?”

Dream 3
The dream was that I saw that people were bored. I would visit a school and young people would be caught up in nothingness. Some asleep, others staring, as the teacher spoke. I would visit a store and there was nonchalance about the storekeeper and his help in what they were doing. They did not care of they were helping. They would look down at their phones to see “what time it was.” Finally after multiple stops, I was delivered to a church. I got out of the car, thinking “surely this place will be alive.” As I walked up the steps, I could see the disrepair and I felt a “spirit” that covered the place with a “shroud” of sorts. (It reminded me of the slime covering the building in Ghostbusters II!) I walked through the “hard to open” door and made my way down the aisle. People were there but not one looked my way. The minister “droned” on and no one paid any attention. I awoke.

For the next half hour I percolated the dreams and listened.

I kept hearing words: mundane, boredom, commonplace, worldly and more.

Deuteronomy 6:24-27
²⁴ The Lord bless thee, and keep thee:
²⁵ The Lord make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee:
²⁶ The Lord lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace.

The Lord is in the “keeping” game. Many years ago, my friend Dave said to me, “boy, I wish I had a testimony like yours.” I laughed and said “my friend, you have been embraced by the keeping power of the Lord. I had to be embraced with His saving power.” What he was saying was he had never experienced the “excitement” of my life and what I was saying was, that I needed a Savior (Certainly he did too, but it was at such an early age, he felt like he missed something.) to rescue me.

In the first dream despite the excitement, the ability to enjoy life and have fun had evaporated. Despite “living” death had entered. Why China? I think more than anything, it represented the “largest” population in the world. Depicting a large population carrying the pallor of spiritual death. That the world’s ways held little happiness or joy.

In the second dream I realized that if the Lord wants you somewhere you will get there. (Not all ways lead to Him!) For me, I was being called to something and despite efforts to get “somewhere else” the keeping power of God was with me.

Have you ever felt like you cannot escape “destiny”, that no matter how much you try, you seem constrained, held back? I believe that is the Lord. (Only this morning I read a short story by my friend Wendy Coy. She describes the Lord’s hand “uncluttering” her schedule.)

I was reminded that boredom is probably one of the things we do when we get caught up in something that we don’t consider to be very spiritual. I go through “boring” times. I have come to the conclusion that sometimes God wants me right where I am…doing nothing. My friend Jack Taylor one time was describing an operation for a heart attack he had. What should have spanned but a few days, was lengthened considerably by an infection. With his chest wide open, he said to the Lord, “You realize I have things to do?” and the Lord’s response was “I have you right here, where I can talk to you.” The Lord did not cause Jack’s heart attack but He used the extended stay to speak to Jack about many things a busy, exciting schedule was not allowing for.

Is there excitement in the Lord? Absolutely! I do not have to go to Africa or South America to see things happen. (I am not saying do not go if the Lord is calling you.) Exciting things happen wherever you are because Jesus is with you.

I am concerned about the growing disappointment that creeps in when things are not exciting and the murmuring or complaining about being “bored”. I recognize I am not the right gift to address that well, but I would say that if your life is “boring”, perhaps you need to be responsible for getting things going. Every church needs agitators and instigators and perhaps you are exactly the fire starter your congregation or fellowship needs to move them to the next level.

God’s heart is to keep you, to manifest His kingdom of righteousness, peace and joy in your life. Your “job” is to appropriate all that He has for you. I get that if “everyone did what they were supposed to we could get to do what we are called to do.” But between here and there we have lots of things to do and accomplish.

I know that sometimes being a mom or dad is not the most “exciting” thing to do, but when you begin to open your eyes up to the possibilities and the future you will become settled even in the most difficult of times.

Look around and take inventory of what you have, not what you do not have. And make a decision to see that inventory, that gift utilized for the glory of God.