The Awakening

 

On the morning of December 18, 2007, I awoke to my wristwatch alarm at 5:41 a.m. I fell back asleep and the backup alarm woke me again at 5:42 a.m. During the minute between the alarms, the Lord gave me a dream that I believe speaks about the Church and what we are beginning to experience today.

The Dream. I was presented with a profile view of an open casket. Only the upper half of the casket was open and there was the body of a young girl inside. She was wearing a school uniform and had a lanyard looped around her neck. The lanyard appeared to be blue with white writing on it and had a silver clasp on the end to hold an identity badge. But the badge appeared to be missing. Then I saw the left profile of the girl’s face. While I was looking at her, she opened her eyes, raised her head, and frowned. I had the impression that was wondering, “What am I doing here?”

Symbols and Interpretation.

The girl represents the body of Christ. She is a future bride, yet too immature to fulfill that role now. She was wearing the type of uniform often worn by Catholic school students. The word “catholic” means universal and she represents the church at large.

The lanyard was missing the identity badge, also known as a security badge. Our security is tied to our identity with the Lord Jesus. Its blue color and white writing speaks of the revelation and purity that comes from identifying with the Lord. The silver clasp on the lanyard signifies the link between us and the Lord, which is our redemption. This end time redemption is explained in Luke 21:27-28; “But when these things begin to take place, straighten up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.” The word “security” is also a synonym for “pledge”. The Lord is the pledge of our inheritance as we’re told in Ephesians 1:13-14, “In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation — having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God's own possession, to the praise of His glory.”

The girl waking was the church coming back to life. The frown indicated that she didn’t know why she was in a coffin. She had believed that she was healthy when in fact she was deathly ill. As the Lord said of the Laodicean Church, “Because you say, "I am rich, and have become wealthy, and have need of nothing," and you do not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked,” (Revelation 3:17-18).

The dream occurred between 5:41 and 5:42. I feel that Isaiah 54:1-2 relates to the message of the dream:
“Shout for joy, O barren one, you who have borne no child;
Break forth into joyful shouting and cry aloud, you who have not travailed;
For the sons of the desolate one will be more numerous
Than the sons of the married woman," says the Lord.
Enlarge the place of your tent;
Stretch out the curtains of your dwellings, spare not;
Lengthen your cords
And strengthen your pegs.”

Where we have been barren in the Church, we should now expect unprecedented growth.

The overall message of the dream, I believe, is that the Lord will awaken His church as a resurrection from the dead. In spite of our immaturity and lack of awareness, He will bring us into the role that He has intended for us all along. Our security is in our identity, the Lord Jesus.