A few weeks ago, I had a dream. I dream a lot and forget most dreams within a day or two, but sometimes I have dreams that stick around, and these dreams seem a little different. Dreams like this one is strange in a way that I cannot explain, and I don’t mean strange in a way that it would be weird, I have dreamt of a man sized chameleon riding a skateboard while singing Celine Deon songs, so I get those kind of strange ones too (true story), I mean strange in a way that it’s simple but just really different.
I was entering a store with my husband and some other people, and once inside, we split up. I had no reason for being there and I didn’t even pay enough attention to what the store was actually selling. Going down one or two isles, I found a young man working there, he looked sad and worried, so I asked him what was bothering him. The man had a lot of trouble and was going to lose his job, so I put my hand on his shoulder, and usually in a situation like this, I would ask if I could pray for the person, but I didn’t.
What I said next is what made this dream so different. I looked at the man and spoke words I did not choose to speak, like I was saying it, but it wasn’t me. Everything in our conversation was normal, except the last thing I said to him. I said: “You have everything you need for victory”, and that was the end of the dream.
It has been a few weeks and I keep thinking about this dream, about those last few words. I am not saying it means anything, I’m not saying it doesn’t, but I have been praying about it and here is what it got me thinking. For weeks I have been wondering what this could mean and finally I thought, what if it’s just that simple. Just like it was said and as bluntly as the dream ended, nothing more and nothing less. This begs the question: what is the victory we seek, and do we know what has been made available to us?
There are so many promises God made in both the old testament and the new. Many people have memorised some of these verses and you can go and look for yourselves, the Bible is a recipe for success, but how is it then, that so many people live such defeated lives while having full access to this victory? The answer is simple. Jesus said: (Matthew 6: 33) “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” For most people living defeated lives, the victory they seek lies in the second half of that recipe.
People, if we cannot understand the magnitude of the victory, we have in the first part of that sentence, then we need to take another look. We can seek His kingdom and His righteousness, because He made a way for us to do it. We were on opposite cliffs, separated by a bottomless void of sin, but God built a bridge and His name is Jesus. When you give yourself as a child, He gives Himself as a Father and He will care for you just like He promised so many times in His word, but that really should be a bonus and not the goal.
Knowing Jesus and always wanting to know Him more, is knowing what has been made available to you, but there is a second thing that keeps our victory at bay. We have two hands and when holding on to moving things it works best if both things are moving in the same direction. Many times, in life, we need God to help us, guide us, change us, rescue us or provide for us and although God is able to, we stay stuck because with one hand, we are holding on to things pulling in the other direction. Those things are fear, sin, pain, anger, hate, jealousy and pride.
We need to seek Him first. Everything you need is in Him. Then, you need to lay it all down, everything you are, everything you have and everything you feel. Take hold of Him with both hands and trust that even if you are heading for some dark nights and deep waters He will never ever leave. When you feel like your sinking, then you seek Him more. When you are defeated and feel lost and alone, hold on to Him with BOTH hands.
Peter walked on water because he was looking at everything he needed for victory, he was looking straight at Jesus. It was only when he looked away, only when he let go with one hand, that he started sinking.
Blessings in Jesus name,
Miryna van As