We had rented a house right on the shore. My sister and her kids joined us--six kids and two adults at the beach. We've done this before--we weren't too worried how outnumbered we were. The house was four stories tall, with wall-length windows and wrap-around porches facing the water--a small bay that opened up to the ocean. A giant shark torso and head jutted up from the lowest level, giving the illusion it was a "Jaws" attack. My bedroom was on the uppermost level, facing the water. I would lie in bed at night as the waves lulled me to sleep. I would watch the dark expanse and wonder what was beyond the shore. Some days, I would stand at the water's edge and marvel at what the Lord had made.
Next door quite a few yards away sat a fun outdoor restaurant and bar with a large deck that had Christmas lights strung on the ceiling. Bands would play on the weekends and rock out the slough. One night, the lights were out, and all the customers came up on my deck--the one right next to my bedroom. I opened the door and tried to usher them down the stairs, but they wouldn't listen. I kept hollering at them that this was not a bar, but a private residence. They didn't care--they demanded their drinks.
When I was finally able to get the last of the customers to leave, I went down to where the gate to my property should have been. The gate was in shambles. It was rusted out, and it was hanging on by a pin on one side. The other side just lay in the mud. I had let go of my vigilance in keeping care of the property that had been entrusted to me.
As I was walking down the pathway between what was my rental property and the restaurant, I noticed alligator prints in the mud. I looked up, and there was a giant alligator right in front of me. I ran inside the house and started yelling at all of the kids to get to safety. I was yelling at my sister to get the puppy. We had a new brown and white English bulldog, and she was the cutest thing in the world. I screamed at the kids to get into the closet--and they complied. I ran back to see where the alligator was. He was breaking down the door and right in front of the door was the puppy. She was jumping up and down like the alligator was going to offer her treats.
I scooped up the puppy right as the alligator broke through the door. The door was still attached to the alligator, like an awkward wooden necklace. He tried to get a sense of his surroundings, and he sniffed the air. I took the puppy to the children's hiding place and counted the children. One, two, three, four, five....five? FIVE! Where was number six? There were only five children. Panic coursed through my veins.
My younger daughter--only nine years old--was not in the closet. Beads of sweat poured down my temples. My heart beat out of my chest. I screamed her name.
As I ran through the entire house searching, I could hear the alligator clanging around. Visions of what the alligator could and would do to my child raced through my mind. I had to find her before the alligator did.
As I reached my bedroom, there sat my 20-gauge shotgun. I grabbed it and three shells. I went downstairs to the alligator. He still had the door around his torso, and he was licking the air as he turned and snorted at me. I lifted the shotgun and blasted him right through the torso. Scales and blood shot through the room. I racked the action and blasted him again. And again. He stopped and splayed himself on the floor, motionless.
This dream revealed several of God's truths to me. The first of which is that if I don't take care of the things that God has put in my charge, they will fall apart, and it will allow things I don't want to be able to enter my life. Just as I didn't take care of the gate, people were allowed to enter my life that I didn't and shouldn't have in my life. They were also in my life for the wrong purposes. They wanted something I wouldn't, couldn't and shouldn't offer them.
Next, this dream revealed to me that when Satan, the alligator, enters my life, I don't have to flee him--he has to flee me. He has entered my home without permission. I have every right and every authority to take my shotgun and rid my life of him. I do not have to run and cower in terror. I do not have to go hide myself and my loved ones in a closet. I can take my shotgun and kill him before he even has a chance to break down my door. I can rebuke him in Jesus' name. I allowed that alligator into my home when I could have prevented it in the first place. I must do that with Satan in my home and in my life.
So now it's time to self reflect and see where I have neglected to take care of the things God has given me responsibility over, for me to see who I have allowed in my life that shouldn't be there, and where I need to take authority over Satan and his influence in my life.
This is a really interesting dream. It definitely shows how much more capable and brave our dream selves are from our real selves and how it's our brain's way of telling us that the best solution is usually the simplest but also the scariest.
ReplyDeleteFor sure! And this dream was so real, too. I woke up and had to pray about it immediately.
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