Chapter 11    

Then I thought of Noah, how he knew just how many days it would rain upon the earth and just when God would let the waters abate and the door to the ark would be opened again. All because God spoke through visions and dreams.  

The book of Acts is a recounting of the leadership of the Holy Spirit in the lives of people who would act upon their visions and dreams. Indeed, the advent at Pentecost prompted Peter to remember the prophecy of Joel:  

"And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams; and on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy." (Joel 2:28) 

I had a desire to understand just how God spoke to us in dreams and visions. Of course, I wanted Him to speak to ME...to let me experience His awesome nearness in my personal life and see Him do the incredible. Little by little, God began to teach me. First of all, no dream or vision would be of "private interpretation." How I love that thought! For it seems that God has reserved the revelation of dreams and visions for those who would seek Him, and only Him. Nor would there be any secrets revealed by "dream books" or psychological guess work. What a wonderful gift God has reserved for His people! 

As I searched the scriptures, I began to see how important it was that I knew how God thinks, how He speaks through mysteries and parables, and in an exciting symbolic mathematical order. These would be clues to knowing and understanding how He speaks to us through dreams and visions. Not always, but very often He would choose this method. But sometimes there would be very explicit messages, such as came to Joseph when he took Jesus to Egypt, or to Annanias in Damascus when Saul of Tarsus was converted. But so much has been lost to the church...we walk so beneath our heritage! Pondering, meditating, observing...these were all words attributed to many in the Bible who sought the meaning of their dreams. Yet in our fast-paced state-of-the-art world, we seem to find little worth in searching out a matter. Perhaps this story will spur some to think again: 

When our youngest son married, he had been in the US Army for only a short while and had received orders to Germany. His idea was to go ahead of his wife and secure an apartment. However, when he got there, he found that no apartments were available, and his low rank put him way down on the list. It didn't look good. And so, his wife came to live with us until such time as one became available. Weeks, months, went by. But all the letters from overseas were the same...no apartment. A spirit of gloom was fast settling on the house.  

Then one night I had a dream. In this dream, my husband and I and my son and his wife were all at a hotel trying to get a room. They gave my husband a room to look at, but he soon returned and asked for a different one. They gave him room 540 on the 5th floor. When we got into the room, it was a very unusual shape. There were huge picture windows on three walls.  I stood looking out of them and saw very big trees, the kind that grow in the Black Forest in Germany. I turned around, and on the bed my son and his wife had placed their suitcases. They were unpacking. She told my son, "I need to go wash some clothing" and went out of the room. Soon, she returned and said, "I found a wash machine and it costs 40 cents a load."  Then the dream ended. 

I awoke and wondered what this dream would mean...it was unusual, with lots of numbers. As I mediated and pondered, the Holy Spirit began to give me the interpretation. First, we were all at a hotel seeking a room, but the first room was unacceptable. This was the present situation...she needed to get to Germany. The second room was on the 5th floor, number 540. Five is the number of God's grace...a good sign that unmerited favor was going to be extended to us. The three windows with the large trees? That did represent Germany, and the number 3 showed a spiritual significance. The suitcases on the bed, the unpacking, the wanting to wash clothing? They would soon be together in Germany! And the number 40..repeated twice in the dream...a period of probation and trial (like happened with Noah on the ark). Joseph had told Pharaoh that because it was repeated twice, the thing was ordained of God. She would be joining her husband in 40 DAYS!! 

I was astounded, and at the breakfast table I told of the dream and the interpretation. There was silence for a moment, but then my daughter-in-law rose from the table and went over to the calendar and marked off 40 days, circling the last day. "If this is truly of God, then this is the day I leave for Germany" she exclaimed. Wow! Could this possibly be so? After some discussion, we concluded that she must begin to get ready to leave...get a passport, shots, start mailing things. And so she did.  

Weeks went by, the initial frenzy soon subsided; especially since the letters still were not encouraging at all. We had carefully withheld the dream story from my son, opting to let God get all the glory. The last week approached. If she was to leave, it must be the last day...the 40th day, which was Sunday. My son must call by Saturday night for her to be able to get a flight on Sunday. But there was no call. Saturday came, and she decided to spend the night at her parent's house as her sisters were home. "What if Mark calls?" we asked."Then call me...even in the middle of the night" she said.   

We went to bed that night, and at midnight the phone rang. Bob answered. It was Mark."Where's my wife?" Bob told him she was at her parent's house. "Get up! Go wake her up! I have a friend flying to New York right now...he will be in Dallas in the afternoon and he has papers from my commanding officer authorizing her to be on an airplane tomorrow! I have an apartment!" Wow! Our household was in pandemonium! We quickly drove to wake up the other household, and such excitement! Could it really be happening?  

Bob called the airline. Do you have an empty seat? Yes, one.  Book her! We did not go to church that day, as we waited for the friend to arrive from New York and call us. But in the late afternoon, he had not called. In fact, he never DID call. So there we were...the 40th day had arrived, she could go...but not without proper papers. What to do? 

As I sat there, I knew that when God says something, it will come to pass. This was obviously a trick of Satan to try and thwart God's plan."Let's go to the airport" I said. "Why? I don't know...I just feel we should go" I answered. And so we drove to the airport and woke up a very irritated Lufthansa clerk.  

"Yes?" she asked.  

"Well, our daughter-in-law is supposed to leave on the flight tonight to Frankfurt."  

"Well, it is too early to check in!" she snapped.   

"But you don't understand" my husband explained. "She still does not have the authorization papers to join her husband who is in the Army, but she does have a military ID. Will that do?" 

"No! She must have papers from the commanding officer!" 

It looked like a collapse of the entire story. But I turned to the clerk and said, "Ma'am...please go ask your supervisor if he would let her go just with the military ID", and I turned and went into the lady's  room to talk to the Lord. While I was doing that, I began to laugh...because God told me the woman was upstairs talking to her boss and he was saying, "Oh let her go..."   I no sooner got that from the Lord, when my daughter-in-law came running in the room. "Where is the check book?  The woman came back down and said her boss said to let me go anyway!"  WOW! 

Well, at about midnight, we were back at the airport waiting for her to board the plane. She was crying...not because this was her first plane ride. Not because she was leaving home. But as she said, "I am crying because God did this for me...because of His mighty power to make things happen!" 

Indeed. 

And so from that time on, I began to pay attention...deep attention, to all that came to me. After all, I was covered by the blood of Jesus and committed to serving Him. Why wouldn't God lead and guide me in every way? 

One time I was ministering a few meetings in a church in Fort Worth, Texas. That night I had a dream that the country Western singer, Garth Brooks, was in the service. He was seated on the back pew, dressed all in black, complete with cowboy hat, boots, and a long rain slicker. During the service, he bowed his head as if under conviction. I awoke the next morning and related the dream to the people in the house I was staying. "I know that Garth Brooks would never come to MY service" I said. "Well, who knows...he is in Dallas for a concert" my friends told me. "Really?" I answered, but thought no more about the dream...until I had finished the evening service.   

People were filing out to go home and I was coming out the front door and had my eyes looking at the threshold when I saw a pair of black boots. I began to look upward and saw a black rainslicker on a tall man. Then I saw his black cowboy hat. I looked again...yes, he was dressed just like Garth Brooks! but it wasn't Garth Brooks...it was a young boy in his late teens. Before I thought, I asked him "Are you Garth Brooks by any chance?"  "YES I AM!" he said proudly, and pulled back his rainslicker to reveal a T-shirt with the face of Garth Brooks imprinted on it! I was shaking. What did all this mean? I didn't wait, but grabbed his hand and began to pray for him.  

"Young man, I don't know why God showed me you in a dream last night, but I need to pray for you." And so I did. We left that church literally shaking. But the next night when I returned, I was up at the altar praying before the service began. One of the deacons came to me. "Sister Adams, you remember what happened last night on the porch...with the boy who says he is Garth Brooks? Well, that boy got saved here some time ago, but he has backslid. His idol is Garth Brooks, and he wants to be just like him. And when you prayed for him, he was so shaken that he is now sitting on the back pew behind us."  I looked, and there he was...no longer in the black hat, shirt, rainslicker. But a young teen, shaking under the power of God with his head bowed....just as it had been in the dream. I went back to him, and once again prayed for him. God had already done His work to find a lost sheep... 

Oh what a privilege to walk in the supernatural ways of God!  It is when we do so, we know the very ALIVENESS of our Lord! We do not need proof of anything...the evidence it already there. 

In Japan, I was waiting to speak at a small meeting. As I sat, I remembered a strange dream I had had the night before. In it, I was in a large palace. A very dignified Japanese woman and a man were arguing...about security arrangements. He was head of the security forces, but she seemed very upset over things. Just then, some terrorists appeared outside. They had large boomerangs and were hurtling them toward the palace. But just as they almost reached the building, they suddenly turned and chased the terrorists away. What could it mean?  Just then, a well-dressed Japanese lady came up to me and introduced herself. She told me she lived in Peru. Peru? "Do you speak Spanish?" I asked. "Oh yes, fluently" she answered. "I am the wife of the Japanese ambassador to Peru."  That woke me up! "Wow, I am very honored to meet you. Do you like it in Peru?" I asked. "It is okay, but we are constantly terrified. I cannot go anywhere without guards. Do you remember reading about the terrorists who took a large company of Japanese hostage recently?" she asked. "Yes, I remember that" I answered."Well, after the standoff, that ambassador was recalled and my husband took his place" she explained.  

I knew there was a connection between my dream and what she was telling me, but I waited on God to get clarification. After speaking, He gave me a word for that lady. I told her about my dream, and that God was telling her that she was not to worry anymore...every weapon that would be formed against them would only return upon the heads of the terrorists! Her eyes opened wide...she rushed to me with a picture. I looked. It was many Japanese dignitaries. "Do you see the man who was the security official I was arguing with in your dream?" she asked. I saw him. "This is him" I said. She was ecstatic! "Yes, that man is my security man! I am going to call my husband right after I leave here and tell him what God has done. He is not a believer, but God has answered my prayers! Thank you so much." And so she left. But I had a nice email several months later....all was well. 

Stay close to God, Saints. He is speaking to you also! 

Mary E. Adams

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Remember: All that we do in this life comes back to our God-given purpose which is to serve and glorify God. The money and assets we accumulate, the fame and power we've attained or seek to attain - all of the things of this nature will one day pass away, but those lives of others we impact for Jesus Christ will last for eternity, and we will be rewarded for the part we helped play by impacting those lives ... for eternity. (Matthew 6:19-21 is our assurance)