I have never put much emphasis on spiritual dreams, mostly because I never had any—until a year ago when I dreamed about the rapture of the church.¹  But a few months ago, I had yet another spiritual dream. I knew instantly it was from the Lord and had meaning I should not ignore. I’m sure some will think I’m weird or ate too much Tex-Mex for dinner. Still, I feel the message is too important not to share.

In this dream, I was in a familiar place with no cause for alarm. My twelve-year-old granddaughter was with me in what I believed to be a safe place. However, I began to notice a questionable force moving toward me; and within seconds I knew I was in trouble. As I tried to fight off the attacker, I discovered that I had little strength. I kept saying to myself, “Why don’t I have any power? Where has my strength gone?”

When I saw an opportunity to run outside the building, I did. I ran as hard as I could—again questioning why I had such little strength. I finally stopped to catch my breath, looked back, and saw that the pursuer was not following me. It was in that moment when a gut-wrenching realization came to me—I had left my granddaughter behind. She was now in the presence of the attacker and I was not there to help her. At that point, I woke up with my heart pounding inside my chest.

There was no small stir in me, and immediately I ask the Lord what the dream meant. God was faithful to reveal its meaning. I will attempt to relate that meaning to you by addressing the different components of the dream.

First, the familiar place in the dream is reflective of the modern-day church as a whole, not singling out any group, church or denomination. What I thought was a safe place was actually not safe; but because it was familiar to me, I was oblivious to the danger. This speaks of where the modern-day church is in relation to our nation’s declining culture. For any of us who have lived in the 21^st Century, we should clearly know by now that some organizations and institutions we once thought safe for our children, are actually not safe at all.

We have been tolerant of accepting the ways of the world into our own church culture. In short, we have become worldly. We have been lulled by years of complacency and trusted ourselves to hierarchical systems that tell us what we should read and believe. We no longer know how to hear from God for ourselves. We rarely, if ever, hear sin preached against from modern-day pulpits—but rather how to have the happiest life possible while on our way to heaven.

Secondly, my granddaughter represents the next generations—our children and grandchildren. They are right there with us. They are watching us and trusting our judgment. They believe we are doing what is in their best interest. And why shouldn’t they? The teachings and programs of the church have worked for us, why wouldn’t it work for them? The next generation has no clue whether it is safe or not, and sadly, they have not been taught to seek God for themselves.

As Christians, we find ourselves in this vulnerable situation because we have been asleep. We refuse to hear any doctrine except our brand. We criticized the movement of God in any group other than our own, thereby offending the Holy Spirit. As a result, we have lost our strength, and we wonder where it has gone. The culture around us has declined to a dangerous point, and because we participate in group-think mentality—we are confident that our group is okay. Of course, we know what God wants, and of course, we have correct doctrine. We refuse to look outside our religious box to see where we are and what is happening around us.

As current events rock our world with a pandemic, a faltering economy, protests and lawlessness flowing into our homes through our television sets, we could think this is the end-time shaking the Bible speaks about. “This means that all of creation will be shaken and removed, so that only unshakable things will remain.” (Hebrews 12:27, NLT) I suspect that “all” includes modern-day churches and modern-day denominations.

If we believe this describes the day in which we live, perhaps it is time to pray: “God, have I been asleep? What do You want to say to me and show me during this time? What about my life is out of sync with You and Your Word? Have I been guilty of group-think and not sought You and You alone? In these unusual and critical days, give me eyes to see and ears to hear. For the sake of my children—wake me up!”

Rest assured, those are words our Heavenly Father longs to hear from His complacent children. But don’t take my word for it. Ask Him for yourself. Lean in closely to hear His voice. Allow the Holy Spirit to rend your heart. At that point, a good old-fashioned time of repentance might be in order. You know, that word we have dismissed as non-essential for the church—R.E.P.E.N.T.

God’s message is clear. A good place to begin is 2 Chronicles 7:14. That four-step pathway to God is something we all can do: humble ourselves, pray, seek, and turn. And, if the leaders of your group/church/denomination tell you that you don’t have to repent of your sins or seek God for yourself, you should probably check things out. And if you decide to run, remember to take your children with you. ~ Janie Kellogg

¹“What Has Happened to the Rapture of the Church” at www.TreasureinEarthenVessels.net.