Graduating Into What’s Next?

When I woke this morning there was a vivid dream lingering in my mind. Initially it seemed quite disjointed but as I wrote it down, the meaning became very clear, and I believe it was from God.

In the dream I was at a Christian college on the last day of term – the last day of the entire course, There was a general sense of joy and relief all round, and we were all waiting to find out where we were going next. Waiting in the queue at the cafeteria for our last meal, there was a young couple of Christians who had been dating. They were going into the army, but the sergeant over them told them both she would need to do a pregnancy test before either of them would be accepted. The young man in particular was offended and protested that they had not been impure, but the sergeant insisted.
Then as I was collecting my meal I saw someone ahead of me with no-one to sit next to. I spoke to her and found she had nowhere to go after college because she didn’t know anyone else who wanted to do what she wanted to do. But I did know someone with the same interests so I introduced them and they went off together.
Somehow I became aware there had been an issue with the toilets – there was a blockage and someone (who had been on holiday on campus) got stuck/ in them and missed the graduation.
As we left the college we went into town to pick up some last bits. The person I was with didn’t have enough money, so I went to the bank to withdraw from my account. It was put into a glass jar and clearly wasn’t enough. When I went back outside to find my friend who was waiting for me, suddenly the amount in the jar had greatly increased.
Then we were suddenly back in my home town, in the first place I ever undertook outreach ministry. And there it went blurry – I can’t remember any more but I believe that is significant in itself.

What I believe God spoke to me through this dream is to do with us coming to the end of the season of training that we the Church have been in. When our Prime Minister announced on Monday the pathway out of lockdown, I – like most of the nation – felt an initial sense of relief, like seeing the light at the end of what has felt a long dark tunnel. But in my spirit I also started feeling a real unease – that as our season of lockdown as a Church is coming to an end, we are about to discover who has learned the lessons God was teaching us, and who is just going to try to return to the old. There’s a sense that we’re about to run out of time to learn the lessons of this season. It has been a dark, painful and difficult time, there is no doubt – but like every wilderness season, it has also been a time of opportunity to grow more intimate with God in relationship, and that has been a real blessing. Some friends I was speaking to yesterday also voiced the same concern: that although we are all naturally relieved at the thought of lockdown easing, we are all also feeling a warning in the spirit about the temptations to come. Church, we need to pray more intensely than ever that we will be wide awake and alert as we leave this season – that we will keep walking step by step with Jesus. The end of lockdown will be a blessing for sure, but it is also going to bring some real challenges for those who are not walking with Jesus.

So that’s what I believe the ‘last day of term’ in my dream was about: the end of the season when we learn how we’ve done and are released into what’s coming next (nb in my dream it was a day, but obviously in the natural we still have weeks & months to navigate. Let’s pay attention while there’s time to not miss anything God has been saying!).
Waiting in line at the cafeteria I believe spoke of our need even as we come to the end of the season, to keep feeding regularly on God’s Word to us (through study of His written Word and receiving revelation through prayer & personal relationship).
The young couple who were going into the army were symbolic of the Church being commissioned to take their place in God’s army – but first having to pass a test of purity. When God spoke to me and I wrote about testing for gold on Monday I did not know exactly what Boris Johnson was about to announce, but obviously God did. And I certainly did not know that the Spirit would respond with a sense of warning. I believe as we come to the end of this season we are going to see an increase in tests that will reveal our purity. Let’s not be offended and resist like the young man in the dream, but submit to God’s refining as we are tested, so we can be released to our commission.
The person on their own I believe speaks of those in the Church who are being released to new & specific ministries, who have felt isolated and disconnected, but God is about to connect them with those carrying the same God-given passions, to release them to go further than they could on their own. If you have felt alone in what you may be called to, pray for God to reveal those He is sending to connect you with.
The person stuck in the toilets I believe represents those who sadly did not realise we were in a training season and treated lockdown as a kind of holiday, failing to press in to God for His purposes. They got stuck in the toilets (representing what is rejected as waste) and missed the graduation – failed the test and were not released with those Christians who have been pressing in. Lord, I pray even at this eleventh hour that you would waken those around us who have missed the purpose of this season. Lockdown is not over just yet – so Lord, please waken those who are in danger of being stuck and missing out on the New.
Going into town I believe represents us receiving the provision God has prepared for us. Naturally speaking it was evident (because the glass jar was see-through) that I did not have enough money for my friend and I to do what we were meant to – but God miraculously multiplied it. I believe as we come into the season of commissioning we are going to see supernatural financial provision to do what God is calling us to.
And finally the place I ended up in my dream speaks to me of beginning our new ministries. The fact that my dream went blurry at that point I believe is important because it shows it is unknown. We are not there yet, so we are not supposed to see it. All of us prefer to know where we are going – to have certainty over where we are going – but we are not supposed to leave this season with a clear picture of the New. The whole point of this season was to train us to walk step by step with the Holy Spirit, not running ahead in what we think the plan is, like we used to. God spent 40 years training Israel to follow His lead through the wilderness, but they still fell into doing their own thing once that season ended. I thank God we did not have to endure 40 years of lockdown, but the lesson was still the same: have we learned it? Because there will be plenty of opportunity to run off and do our own thing once this season of involuntary constriction ends. We need to remain committed to voluntarily walking in step with the Spirit’s leading. We are called to a life of dependency on the Holy Spirit, so let’s pray that we have learned that lesson, and commit to remaining in it.

So I want to encourage us today as we pray into the plan for the ending of lockdown – let’s keep our eyes fixed on Jesus more than ever. Only He knows exactly what is going to happen, and when. The Government have made plans but we know their plans don’t always come to pass. We don’t put our faith in them, only in God. However it does seem He is saying that this season is coming to an end, so let’s pray in these coming days that we have learned the lessons He has been revealing, that we would pass the tests, and that we would commit to continuing step-by-step with Him as He leads us into the unknown New. And thank Him and trust Him for His ongoing guidance and certain provision of co-labourers and finances to equip us for everything He is leading us into… whatever it turns out to be!