The Snake Slayer
"Today I woke up from a series of strange dreams."
I typed these words last night before going to sleep but got so tired that I couldn't finish the post. The strange thing is, I don't remember what dreams I was talking about at all... And this morning I also woke up from a series of strange dreams... I wasn't planning on sharing about them, but this coincidence of opening my computer to those words that I didn't remember I'd typed is too obvious to miss... So I guess I'm going to do something new and share one of my dreams.
I've had only a few dreams in my life that I felt like were from the Lord and I usually knew what their meanings were right after waking up from them in the morning. They're always metaphors for something God is trying to tell me and usually line up with what He's doing in my life and heart at the time. But just because they're from God doesn't mean they're rainbows and butterflies... At least not in my experience...
Usually they're cutting and strange... they call to the deepest parts of me to come awake in an uncomfortable and "disturbing" way (by disturbing I mean that they disturb my day to day normal and shake me out of my complacency). And they often wake me up to the reality of the spiritual battle going on around me that I've fallen asleep to...
Last night's was no different. I woke up only remembering random snippets of the dreams and what I do remember seems to be telling me that there were three distinct dreams I had - each with a different message from the Lord. But understanding two of them is still a work in progress for me and so I'm only going to share the one that I think I understand the most so far.
Here it is:
I was walking on a trail in the strangest scenery - it was like a desert, a mountain, and a jungle met and the ground was gravely and dusty, but there were rocks and steep hills and trees and vines everywhere all at the same time. I remember coming to a fork in the path and the right one was wide and went straight up a steep hill and I could see two giant snakes coiled up on both sides of the path at the top of the hill - almost like they were guarding the path.
I chose the fork to the left, to avoid the giant snakes, and followed the smaller, less traveled path down into the forest. As I went along, I started noticing snakes everywhere... on either side of the path, some even in the path mixed in with the vines so that I kept almost stepping on them and it was strange and disturbing... But in the dream I kept on moving and told myself that if I just kept going I would be ok.
My memory of the dream flashes forward from this image to another.
In this new image I am scaling a steep rock cliff. Now I am surrounded by others who are prepared with gear for the journey, and so am I. We all have a sense of confidence about us and we are following a leader who I think called himself the "Snake Slayer" (or something equally dorky and intimidating sounding all at the same time). This guy was straight out of the movies with wild crazy hair, macho man clothing and build and a tad too much "crazy" in his eyes. He was our fearless leader and in the dream I knew I had met up with him and the others further down the path from where I was before - when I had been scared out of my mine of the snakes I had been scrambling to get through. And they had taken me under their wing and were showing me how to survive in this wild land. I guess it was almost like Peter Pan and the lost boys...?
In this "clip" from the dream, I was climbing up a steep cliff right behind "Mr. Snake Slayer" and the others were following behind. Our wild teacher and guide was telling us about how he lived his life and had just gotten done telling us that he lived off of all the snakes that were everywhere in that area.
We were all shocked and in awe of this, but then he said something that made me stop even in the dream... he said, "God always provides food in every place". In that place where there was literally nothing to eat and disgusting, terrifying snakes were more than plentiful, he had learned to conquer and survive. He then went on to teach us how to kill the snakes and eat them to survive.
And that's all I can remember about the dream.
Here's the depth of interpretation I have so far, although I feel like there's more... Dreams are fading things and it seems the harder I try to nail it down, the less I understand or remember. But here it is anyway...
In the beginning of the dream, I chose the path "of least resistance" because I was afraid of the two huge snakes at the top of the hill and didn't think I would survive if I tried to go that way. But I had a feeling in the dream that if I had gone that way I would have come out the other side to find something truly incredible. But I let fear and inexperience get the best of me and chose the other path.
Turns out, the other path might have been even worse and I ended up basically wading through snakes of various sizes along my way... I was starting to panic as I got further and further into the snakes but thankfully I found a group of people in that desolate and scary place who took me in and taught me not only how to survive, but how to thrive in that land.
In the dream, the "Snake Slayer" was a spiritual guide and mentor who was teaching me and others how to overcome the evil demonic forces of the world to the point that we actually killed and ate them for every meal of the day...
Just as Jesus said to his disciples that "His food was to do the will of His Father", our food became conquering the demonic forces around us and learning to live and thrive in a world full of evil and danger.
God was telling me that He wants to take me and others from a place of fear and timidity to a place of power, authority, wisdom, and strength as we come against the evil forces in our lives and this world and we WIN! He is going to put us into families with other believers who are following Jesus, the "Snake Slayer" Himself, and He will teach us how to overcome and to become wild warriors with Him.
And He will always provide what we need in every season... Even from the least likely situations and places He will send provision and we will show us how to use the resources that we have, no matter how small, to survive and to thrive! It might take hard work and courage, but in Him we will overcome any obstacle and scale the mountains on our way to the victory that Jesus died for us to have!
Like I said, I still have a lot to pray through as far as this dream and the others are concerned, but thank you for giving me the chance to process through at least some of it here. And I pray right now that if you are reading this and you have the desire to meet with the Lord in your sleep, that He would open up that gateway to you and you would dream dreams and know their meanings as you walk into the destiny the Lord has for you.
May we stay wide awake to Him.
I typed these words last night before going to sleep but got so tired that I couldn't finish the post. The strange thing is, I don't remember what dreams I was talking about at all... And this morning I also woke up from a series of strange dreams... I wasn't planning on sharing about them, but this coincidence of opening my computer to those words that I didn't remember I'd typed is too obvious to miss... So I guess I'm going to do something new and share one of my dreams.
I've had only a few dreams in my life that I felt like were from the Lord and I usually knew what their meanings were right after waking up from them in the morning. They're always metaphors for something God is trying to tell me and usually line up with what He's doing in my life and heart at the time. But just because they're from God doesn't mean they're rainbows and butterflies... At least not in my experience...
Usually they're cutting and strange... they call to the deepest parts of me to come awake in an uncomfortable and "disturbing" way (by disturbing I mean that they disturb my day to day normal and shake me out of my complacency). And they often wake me up to the reality of the spiritual battle going on around me that I've fallen asleep to...
Last night's was no different. I woke up only remembering random snippets of the dreams and what I do remember seems to be telling me that there were three distinct dreams I had - each with a different message from the Lord. But understanding two of them is still a work in progress for me and so I'm only going to share the one that I think I understand the most so far.
Here it is:
I was walking on a trail in the strangest scenery - it was like a desert, a mountain, and a jungle met and the ground was gravely and dusty, but there were rocks and steep hills and trees and vines everywhere all at the same time. I remember coming to a fork in the path and the right one was wide and went straight up a steep hill and I could see two giant snakes coiled up on both sides of the path at the top of the hill - almost like they were guarding the path.
I chose the fork to the left, to avoid the giant snakes, and followed the smaller, less traveled path down into the forest. As I went along, I started noticing snakes everywhere... on either side of the path, some even in the path mixed in with the vines so that I kept almost stepping on them and it was strange and disturbing... But in the dream I kept on moving and told myself that if I just kept going I would be ok.
My memory of the dream flashes forward from this image to another.
In this new image I am scaling a steep rock cliff. Now I am surrounded by others who are prepared with gear for the journey, and so am I. We all have a sense of confidence about us and we are following a leader who I think called himself the "Snake Slayer" (or something equally dorky and intimidating sounding all at the same time). This guy was straight out of the movies with wild crazy hair, macho man clothing and build and a tad too much "crazy" in his eyes. He was our fearless leader and in the dream I knew I had met up with him and the others further down the path from where I was before - when I had been scared out of my mine of the snakes I had been scrambling to get through. And they had taken me under their wing and were showing me how to survive in this wild land. I guess it was almost like Peter Pan and the lost boys...?
In this "clip" from the dream, I was climbing up a steep cliff right behind "Mr. Snake Slayer" and the others were following behind. Our wild teacher and guide was telling us about how he lived his life and had just gotten done telling us that he lived off of all the snakes that were everywhere in that area.
We were all shocked and in awe of this, but then he said something that made me stop even in the dream... he said, "God always provides food in every place". In that place where there was literally nothing to eat and disgusting, terrifying snakes were more than plentiful, he had learned to conquer and survive. He then went on to teach us how to kill the snakes and eat them to survive.
And that's all I can remember about the dream.
Here's the depth of interpretation I have so far, although I feel like there's more... Dreams are fading things and it seems the harder I try to nail it down, the less I understand or remember. But here it is anyway...
In the beginning of the dream, I chose the path "of least resistance" because I was afraid of the two huge snakes at the top of the hill and didn't think I would survive if I tried to go that way. But I had a feeling in the dream that if I had gone that way I would have come out the other side to find something truly incredible. But I let fear and inexperience get the best of me and chose the other path.
Turns out, the other path might have been even worse and I ended up basically wading through snakes of various sizes along my way... I was starting to panic as I got further and further into the snakes but thankfully I found a group of people in that desolate and scary place who took me in and taught me not only how to survive, but how to thrive in that land.
In the dream, the "Snake Slayer" was a spiritual guide and mentor who was teaching me and others how to overcome the evil demonic forces of the world to the point that we actually killed and ate them for every meal of the day...
Just as Jesus said to his disciples that "His food was to do the will of His Father", our food became conquering the demonic forces around us and learning to live and thrive in a world full of evil and danger.
God was telling me that He wants to take me and others from a place of fear and timidity to a place of power, authority, wisdom, and strength as we come against the evil forces in our lives and this world and we WIN! He is going to put us into families with other believers who are following Jesus, the "Snake Slayer" Himself, and He will teach us how to overcome and to become wild warriors with Him.
And He will always provide what we need in every season... Even from the least likely situations and places He will send provision and we will show us how to use the resources that we have, no matter how small, to survive and to thrive! It might take hard work and courage, but in Him we will overcome any obstacle and scale the mountains on our way to the victory that Jesus died for us to have!
Like I said, I still have a lot to pray through as far as this dream and the others are concerned, but thank you for giving me the chance to process through at least some of it here. And I pray right now that if you are reading this and you have the desire to meet with the Lord in your sleep, that He would open up that gateway to you and you would dream dreams and know their meanings as you walk into the destiny the Lord has for you.
May we stay wide awake to Him.
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