Grace Speaks up

July 3, 2004

Personal Narrations

Joel Akin

Calgary, Alberta

The Dream: I'm in a bus heading towards a new town which is built next to the ocean. To my immediate left is a scary looking woman, big and muscular. To my immediate right sitting inside a small box is a very crippled child. No arms, no legs and hard to tell if its male or female. As we drive along I'm minding my own business. To my surprise the large woman puts her hand on my left leg. I pick it up and remove it. Again she places her hand on my leg in an even more suggestive manner and I look at her in shock and state, "If you don't leave me alone I'm going to call the cops on you." The ugly woman vanishes. Sitting in front of me is a beautiful older woman. She has a Spanish appearance at first but I realize she has a rare universal look as if she could be from any nation. She hears my comments to this ugly woman and looks back at me with a look of concern. To her right is another man but he never looks around and I never see his face. The ride continues and I turn my attention to the crippled child to my right. I feel such compassion that I lay hands on it and pray for all I'm worth that this hopeless case would be healed. Nothing seems to happen except at that moment we reach our final stop and the woman in front stands up and picks up the box and child and then looks at me with the sweetest smile I have ever seen.

 I stand up also and step off the bus. I'm traveling light and have very little with me beyond my clothes and wallet. No sooner do I step into the newest store, a produce market, that I'm accosted by a policeman who is sitting inside of a pillar. He demands my wallet and begins to study my license and other items. I get the impression he is not happy with me and is going to send me out of town.

The beautiful woman from the bus suddenly steps forward and speaks to the policeman, "Don't bother him. I know him." The policeman looks shocked and we both watch at the woman steps away. He looks at me as if seeing something he didn't notice before. "You don't know how special you are. She doesn't do that for just anyone."

 As in most dreams I know there is an interpretation if I will just seek God for an answer. In this case I knew there was something significant going on in the spiritual realm. So as I prayed God began to reveal a deeper understanding of the law and grace. One of the greatest struggles every Christian deals with is their struggle with the flesh. In this case the desire of the flesh was the ugly woman who I believe represented lust. As I have grown closer to God and my relationship with Christ has deepened the power of the flesh over me is being conquered. Yet as with the flesh it finds us in the least expected of places and on every journey. If we submit to the flesh it will overwhelm us. Yet how then does one deal with the flesh when faced with it. When longings rise up in our walk with God? In this case I had to confront the flesh in order to cause her to vanish. Yet what and who did the woman represent, the beautiful mature one? God showed me that she represented the grace of Christ. For the man who's face I could not see signified Christ but it was His Grace which watched over me. In my dream she was always in front of me.

Yet I could not understand the crippled child in the box. I had prayed with such compassion and love. Why was this child not healed? God began to show me something wonderful. That it was Grace that saw my pain and suffering, Thus the Grace of Christ bore my sorrows and my afflictions. How many times have I cried out in the midst of pain begging God to take it all away. The anguish I could not speak of to others. God showed me that I saw the crippled child in the little box but it was Grace that carried it for me!

 Yes, I still have problems and difficulties but the very worst of it, the brunt of it was carried by Grace. What a powerful illustration for me of the love of Christ.

For it was Grace that kept me free from the power of the flesh and Grace that gave me hope during the pain I had carried for years.

Yet now Grace carried those burdens that had grown too heavy for me. I am reminded of the dream from several years ago where God showed me carrying a huge log. It was so large that I could not see where I was walking nor could I move forward spiritually. God later showed how a beautiful young woman came and forcibly removed that burden from me. At the time I thought how cruel for God to allow this but now I can see and understand that even years ago God was preparing Grace to carry the burdens of life for me.

 The dream continued. I found myself in a produce market. The shelves were loaded with fruit and vegetables and nuts. Every kind of produce that the gardens of the earth can bear. Yet preventing me from obtaining this fruit was the policeman sitting inside this pillar.

As God began to show me what this signified I realized again how powerful Gods teaching is. For the fruit is not just the fruits of the spirit but the fruit that God desires everyone to bring forth. Yet standing in my way is once again the law. The policeman was sitting inside the pillar to signify they are the power center of the spiritual fruit market. God began to show me it was not that the law picked me out in particular. In fact the law is notorious for picking on everyone who gets too close to producing spiritual fruit. The law judged all equal and all were equally guilty.

 Now here is the wonderful part. Just as all were guilty under the law so under the Grace of Christ none are guilty and all our names are known.

Because of the Grace of Christ I am known. I have been separated, set apart, chosen, anointed so the law no longer has authority over me or power over me. Grace steps forward when the law detains us and states, "This child is mine, I know them, and you are not to bother them because of the blood I shed for them on the cross. I am the one carrying their burden and the law must no longer bother or hinder or stop you from moving forward nor from buying and bearing fruit."

How marvelous is this teaching and this understanding of Grace. How sweet and how beautiful she is. What compassion to bear the greatest of my burdens and to watch over me when sin rears its ugly head. For she is the Grace of my Lord and savior Jesus Christ. May His Grace watch over you today.