I Saw Hippie Jesus in Amusement Park Heaven

This is not one of those off-kilter end-times “prophecies,” nor am I trying to be irreverent by portraying Jesus as any less than the exalted, holy King that He is.

But I had the weirdest dream, and in it Jesus had foregone the white robe and purple sash and was dressed much more groovily.

My dream was probably a result of the Chinese food I ate before I went to sleep, but it’s funny how God can use even silly things to deliver a message that needs to be heard.

Truthfully, He used a scripture that I read after I ate the Chinese food and before I went to sleep … but apparently, I needed a repeat lesson with more visual emphasis.

In my dream, Jesus was letting me have a taste of a small part of heaven that felt like Disneyland with none of the long lines or commercialism. It was all joy, excitement, adventure and thrill in this beautiful, natural setting. Also, the rides were like nothing I have ever seen in real life, and they had no safety restraints. Jesus let me ride them all to my heart’s content, and I never even thought of would-be perils or the possibility of flying into a dark abyss.

———-

Please bear with my change in trajectory, but when I was musing on the oddity of my dream later, I remembered a time soon after Olivia was born. A new parent who had read far too much about the dangers of SIDS, I had put Olivia to sleep but kept incessantly checking on her every 3 to 5 minutes. I was afraid that she would roll over onto her belly or get stuck under the crib bumper pillows. Also, I was so overwhelmed with love for this tiny little girl that I ached to hold her, even though she was a few feet away in the other room. After what seemed like my 7th or 8th peek into the crib, I heard God speak to my heart, “This is how faithfully I watch over you.”

For me, it took experiencing a mother’s love to comprehend even a drop in the bucket of what the Father feels for His children and how steadfastly He looks after His own.

———-

Now back to the scripture that I was reading after the Chinese food and before the dream.

“I lay down and slept, yet I woke up in safety, for the LORD was watching over me.”–Psalms 3:5

See … for a type-A personality who has spent most of her life trying to control pretty much everything–Chinese food inspired dreams, and whispers heard in the middle of the night over an infant’s crib, and Psalms 3:5–they all carry an invaluable message:

GOD IS IN CONTROL, SO I DON’T HAVE TO BE. It’s OK to go along for the ride. No seat belt required! It’s alright to lay down and rest. No need to keep one eye open!

Once again, Jesus is teaching me to surrender. To let go of fear so that I can enjoy the ride. To simply REST in Him. When I say rest, I don’t mean sleep. My family will attest to the fact that I am an expert at that.

No, the kind of resting that I need to better learn involves resting FROM worry and anxiety and resting IN Jesus. It requires taking my hands off so that His hands are free to work. Resting means:

—NOT analyzing every conversation to find imagined reasons why this or that person might be annoyed with me
—NOT succumbing to the tornado of fear that attempts to rip through my mind every time the car breaks down or an unexpected bill arrives in the mail
—NOT insisting on perfection when God has never required it of me

Resting means:
–Leaning into Jesus instead of trying to spin the plates of my life alone
–Looking to Him for THE solution instead of scouring the internet and every other human resource to find a plan A, B, and C

Some of you reading this may not find it hard to rest in God. Maybe you struggle with something else and need to dream about Jesus in a business suit. (LOL!)

But for me, learning to trust God has been a lifelong journey. My own blindness to God’s faithfulness has often left me stressing when I should’ve been relaxing–just enjoying His goodness. So many times I’ve tried to build safe guards when I should’ve reveled in the freedom of the ride.

Here’s to riding and to resting … to raising my hands like a wild woman at the top of the climb and resting in God’s faithfulness all the way down the hill.