When a Dream is a Nightmare...

So... you know when things are going along great and there is really nothing to worry about and life seems to be all back on track and God is good and Dreams are coming true and restoration feels complete for the most part?  Things feel cozy and peaceful and dare I say comfy?

Then, ya know how you - who never remember dreams anyway - wake up quick, breath short, in a cold sweat, pulse racing around blind corners... nightmare freshly rolling around in your head and looking for an opening right back into your heart to stir up fear and doubt and accusation?

Yeah... I hate that!

I'm not really into that...

I don't wanna play that game.

(As my girlie would say, "I'm over it!")

My day unfolds and I am faced with the challenge to pay attention to it... to relive the nightmare and give it place... or to dismiss it all together and just move on.  

A little reading... a little coffee (which always always helps!)... a little listening leads me to a different kind of remembering... 

He leads me to remember all that He has done.  He reminds me to go back to those days where dreams died and promises were broken... where hearts were bleeding out and what we all thought we knew was shaking... where we found ourselves in a heap, all piled up at midnight on the kitchen floor...

...and in all of that brokenness and grasping for Truth... He grabbed hold of each of us and held on for the ride.  

He reminded me that through it all - He was in the midst of it all... making us stronger... giving us a storyline we would have not chosen - and yet through it - we are redeemed, and He is glorified and the story of redemption is now - yet again - unfolding in our lives.

He reminded me that even in the darkest hours... in the chill of winter, or the heat of summer... in all of it - His promises remain... and it's our choice to look for the signs... to count the gifts... to see Him there - right beside us, all along!

And isn't the enemy just crafty enough to not always be all over the top... revealing his hand. Oh - he goes too far and we can be on to him right from the start, but sometimes... sometimes he just comes in with a whisper... a doubt... a nightmare that feels like so much truth... that feels just oh so familiar.  It takes just a seed... and we water it with our thoughts and watch it grow wild and fierce, and we wonder how it happened!

It can feel out of our hands, beyond our control... and yet - when we remember to take every thought captive... to be the boss of our own thinking... our own wandering... and we remember to slow down, breathe in, and count gifts... when we surrender it all to Him, and trust that He's All In with us, when we remember that no matter what 'it' is, it's gonna be worth it. Then we can exhale the worries and fear, and enter into His rest.

So today... this day... I silence the whisperings and choose to trust.  I take back the power and I worship my way out of the downward spiral... and with my whole heart... I sing out...
It's gonna be worth it all! 

Join in with me, won't you?
 Feel the truth of these words:

What about you?  How do you handle thoughts
or nightmares that come at you hard,
and stir up fear and doubt?

How can I be praying for you?

Speak Life. Be Love. Shine On.
~Karrilee~