Pam Padgett - teacher
Several years ago I had the following dream ...
I was in a rather small army and we were about to be
attacked by a much larger army.
We were led to go into a room on an upper floor of a
building. We knew the enemy would come
there and that the battle would be in this room.
We didn’t have
weapons such as guns; we were given forks.
There was a table and chairs in the room. Although I thought about turning the table on
its side to use as a type of shield, other people had already started doing
that. There was a closet near the door
through which the enemy would enter. I
took a fork and went into the closet, leaving the door partially opened.
Then the enemy started coming through the door. I reached out of the closet, grabbed an enemy
soldier, and stabbed the soldier several times with my fork. When that soldier fell, I reached and grabbed
another soldier.
After having done this several times, the enemy saw what I
was doing and three of them came to kill me.
It looked totally hopeless for me. But then,
suddenly, the fighting stopped.
I asked others in the army I was in why the fighting stopped
and was told that it was because I was being attacked. There was a rule that if a soldier was
already injured, they could not be attacked.
At first I wondered how this pertained to me, but then saw a small cut
on my left arm. I don’t think I was even
aware of this during the battle, and it certainly hadn’t stopped me from
killing several of the enemy. But,
evidently, this was seen as a serious offense by those in charge. So the fighting had been stopped and the
enemy army was held responsible for this. (I was concerned that I had stabbed each
enemy soldier several times and wondered if this was going against the rules as
well. However, I was told that this was
ok since I stabbed the soldier multiple times in the same attack … I hadn’t set
out to attack someone who was already wounded.)
We thought that the fighting would now resume. But as we waited in the room for the enemy to
return, we noticed through the window that the enemy troops were marching out
of the city. The battle was over. I turned and told those in the room that this
was God’s doing (that we weren’t destroyed by the enemy and that the battle was
over), and the others agreed.
====
One of the things that stands out to me in this dream are that we
were given forks to fight with. We didn't have weapons that would seem
wise to men, yet I was able to kill the enemy soldiers with the fork.
As we live on this earth we face various spiritual battles. Devils
attack us with thoughts. People sometimes attack us with their words.
Our own flesh rises up. For each battle, God gives us what we need in
that battle. When we fight with the weapons that God gives to us, we
are able to overcome.
2 Corin. 10:3 For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war
after the flesh: 4 (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but
mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) 5 Casting down
imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the
knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the
obedience of Christ;
We may be given a scripture or reminded by the Holy Spirit of a
dream as weapons to deal with damaging thoughts or words, keeping us in the ways of God. We may
be given something to say to a person attacking us which shows truth or sets a matter
in order. Sometimes the weapon we're given doesn't seem like a weapon
at all. But when our "weapon" is what God gives to us, it is
effective.
An unexpected type of weapon was given to me when I once worked with a woman who was very abrasive in dealing with others and often
spoke with hostility. One day she called me saying she couldn't participate in a
conference call I had setup to discuss a project because her father had
become very ill and had just been rushed to a hospital. There was great
hostility in her voice and her words, attacking me for having setup
this call at a time when, it turned out, her father was being taken to a hospital (this was totally irrational).
Surprisingly, instead of trying to defend myself (as my flesh wanted to
do), I was filled with compassion toward this woman and spoke kindly to
her. This compassion was something
the Holy Spirit put in my heart; it was not of myself. The woman immediately stopped attacking me and her words "softened". I worked with her for several months
after this, and she never again attacked me as she had previously done.
I believe the compassion given me toward this woman was the "weapon"
given by God in this situation.
--
Another thing that stands out to me in this dream is that even though I
wasn't aware of having been injured with a small cut, this was seen by
those "in charge" and the fighting was stopped when I was attacked
again.
This reminds me of how God is always watching over us, knowing everything about us and each battle we face. (Even the hairs of our head are numbered ... Matt. 10:30). God is aware of
those things that are dangerous to us even when we may not see a
problem.
And God has promised that HE will never leave us nor forsake us.
Hebrews 13:5 Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. 6 So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me.
No matter what we face, we are not alone because we belong to God. Our hope and trust cannot be in ourselves, but in God.