"Be Still"

by Rick Floyd

One of the things about living in Phoenix that had such a powerful draw for me was the approximately three hundred days of sunshine. Living back in the Midwest had always been a burden upon my mind. The thought of impending winters always shortened the joy of my summers. Even though I had weathered through twenty-seven winters in my life, I was never able to take it in stride. My threat to move to a warmer climate was finally realized in moving to Arizona. It was one of the few accomplishments in my life.

Now I was reaching for a new goal. Now that God had finally gotten my attention and had confirmed for me His existence, I was embarking on a new adventure where assurance was given for success. I had discovered that a relationship with Jesus, as my Lord and Savior, was that "something better" that I had been looking for. Even with this realization, I did not fully understand its contents or the extent of the changes needed in my life.

As far back as I could remember, my attitude had been to take care of myself. I was always on my guard and I would only put my trust in a chosen few. Unfortunately, that trust was many times broken and that's another story all together. But without trust, our efforts to find peace can be disappointing. The Bible was telling me that I could trust Jesus and that His words are truth without exception. I not only wanted to trust, but I also had a deep need to be able to trust Him explicitly. His words promised to teach me how to appropriately view people around me. I was gaining an understanding why things had happened the way they had and why relationships on this earth were so imperiled.

Bible study became a daily habit. Each day unfolded with new understanding about our planet in rebellion and how God is working to repair man's hearts. God the Father was working through Jesus to reconcile all who were willing to come back to Him.

There was a period of time where I was without work for six months. This afforded me the great luxury of detailed daily Bible study and the time to digest its importance to me and for those which I carried a burden. One day, it dawned on me that I was actually applying my faith in the truth that I'd been shown and it felt so natural.

For someone coming out of atheism, or any kind of unbelief for that matter, the prophecies of the Bible are a good foundation to start believing. I was sure that only a GOD who knew the future could foretell exactly what would happen long before the event occurred. God has provided such verifiable truth in His Word. Most of the Christian world acknowledges that more than 90% of Bible prophecies have been fulfilled and this also points to Christ's soon return.

When I was a child of about four or five years old, I started having nightmares. It wasn't just one, but several bad dreams that recurred frequently. As a child, I had no idea why I was having them or what they meant. I would learn later that these dreams were prophetic in nature and understanding, and that it was God's way of letting me know that He is both real and present.

The first dream accurately foretold my parent's divorce. I was in a dark room where a bright light was shining down over a table. Around that table were my parents and older brother pursuing each other around the table. From time to time they would reverse direction and chase the other way. This would continue a short time and then my father would gradually fade out of the picture leaving my mother and brother alone. Then the dream would start all over again. It was approximately six years later that I learned about the divorce.

It was a terrible experience for someone so young to endure, but it was God's purpose to have me look back and reflect on the fact that He was with me and knew my experience. This dream was someday to be one of the evidences proving God's existence.

My second nightmare took place in pitch-black surroundings. A very bright light was shining down from above me while all else around me was completely dark. I was slowly floating upwards. As I rose higher and higher, I would notice that my arms and legs were dismembering from my body. This caused me great anxiety and I would endeavor to pull them back to their proper place. I had to pull with all my might to accomplish the task, but when I started to relax it would happen again. Back and forth the struggle would continue. Finally, I would wake up in a sweat and be exhausted from my efforts. I would be afraid to go back to sleep knowing that the dream would happen again and again.

This dream lasted into my adult life. On many occasions, I shared this dream with many people hoping to gain its understanding, but to no avail. It wasn't until after I had studied the Bible for several years that it finally made sense. Because I had studied Bible prophecies and had realized that my other dream was prophetic, I asked God to interpret this dream for my understanding. I didn't receive an answer right away. He allowed me several years of Christian experience so that I would recognize the answer beyond a shadow of a doubt. The meaning would be very clear. His way of doing things is far superior to ours.

After studying the Bible and being deeply impressed that following Jesus was the right way for me, I decided on Baptism and entered the church. What I found were people just like me in various stages of understanding their experience with Jesus. I was very excited by the new things that I was learning and wanted to share it with everyone. I was greatly disappointed by many of my friends who were not interested. Not only did some of them laugh at me, but they also shunned me, shutting me out of their lives. I was impressed that I needed to be patient with them and let Him work on their hearts. They were not yet aware of their deep need.

It wasn't what I discovered about other people that shocked me so much as what I had found out about myself. I had read articles about people who were married, divorced and then remarried. Their first marriage ended in failure and then their second marriage would be in distress as well. The explanation was that the person had brought old baggage from the first marriage into the second and this would cause unhappiness, disharmony and quite likely conflict. I discovered that I was bringing old baggage, old habits, and old ways of thinking into my new relationship with Jesus. There had to be a systematic renewal of my habits, thoughts, and reactions to situations and people around me if I were to more closely follow Jesus and represent Him to the world.

Jesus, being very kind and loving, was patient with me while teaching me that lesson. It was He who was guiding me to discard the old baggage. He wanted to refine my character, which required exposing the sin and rebellion in me. For each character defect that I was convicted of, Jesus would show me a promise in His Word. Confessing the defect and applying faith to His promise to heal my heart is His ordained formula for Christian growth. Because He is so loving He did not reveal to me all at once the abundance of sin in my life. Gradually, as I was able to bear each new revelation, He showed me things in my heart that needed to be changed and bring me more into harmony with Him.

I confess, that in my humanity, there were some things I didn't want to let go of. I wanted to follow Him and go to heaven where there was no more sorrow or death, yet I wanted to cling to points of character that would prevent me from going there. The more I studied the Bible the more I realized that it was a struggle between obedience and disobedience. I gradually understood that any selfishness to which I would cling shamed Jesus and that it would hold me back from further Christian growth. Jesus had given me my dream of dismemberment as a prophecy of the great struggle I would have between my ways and His. The dream exposed in me my difficulty in crucifying my flesh (disobedience/selfish ways). To simply say "no" to my old cherished sins would be the hardest struggle of my Christian life. I needed to put the old man to death and allow the new man in Christ to grow. This meant doing His will and not my own.

In the dream, drawing in my arms and legs symbolized my effort to maintain my selfish control over my life and choices. My arms and legs, gradually floating away, represented the slow process of submitting to and trusting God's leading in my life. This foretold my constant tug-of-war and my wavering back and forth between two masters.

But my loving God would persist in drawing me to Him as expressed in my floating upwards in the bright light which symbolized Him. The fact that the dream had no end and recurred over and over again is simple. My story here on earth is not yet over. The struggle to maintain self-denial is a commitment that I must make as a choice each day. I'm very happy that God is longsuffering and that His patience is extended to those who consciously choose Him as Savior.

There are other dreams that also foretold other events that I can't share here. They involve other people that need to remain untold at this time. As the dreams had been unfolded to my understanding, I realized that God had kept me alive and had a purpose for me. I had survived Vietnam, robbery at gunpoint, alcoholism, and many opportunities to die on my motorcycle while driving under the influence. My life could have been taken at any time.

So, where did I fit into God's great plan? What was I to do for Jesus?

Jesus had laid down His life for me when crucified on the Cross of Calvary. I was being reconciled to God through Him. His request was that I join with Him in a ministry of reconciliation. I'm to tell the "Good News" to those who will listen. For my family, friends, and even casual acquaintances, I am to share the Good News that Jesus has paid the ransom price for everyone. All that anyone has to do to actuate redemption for their souls is to receive Jesus as their Savior and submit their hearts to renewal by His grace.

He will lead us all the way to the gates of heaven if we will but follow Him.

This is where I, and all other Christians, fit into the great plan for this rebellious planet. Telling our testimonies of a God who loves us and gave all He had to free us from sin. Jesus wants to offer us all a peace of mind and heart that surpasses our understanding.

When Mary was told by the angel that she was chosen bear the Son of God in her womb, she quickly realized the great privilege she had received. When we realize the great privilege we have for God, the Holy Spirit, to dwell in our hearts, we will respond as Mary did when she said, "My soul doth magnify the Lord." When something gets magnified, it is made easier to be seen. Jesus was sent by His Father to "magnify" Him to mankind because men had lost sight of God's loving character. Now Jesus sends us on the same mission to magnify Him. We are offered the same opportunity, with the indwelling Holy Spirit in our hearts, to "magnify" Jesus to this dying world. The way we are to do this is to show mercy as He did to us. We will show forgiveness, love, compassion, courtesy, longsuffering, meekness, and temperance as Jesus did. What greater purpose can anyone have than to be an ambassador for Christ Jesus to perishing souls.

My testimony will continue to grow as I draw still nearer to my Savior. Once I was "Stranded (in sin) but I was not forgotten." He came close to ask me "Where are you?" so that I might gain a true vision of my circumstances and to evaluate my great need. Now He is teaching me to "Be Still" as He teaches me that He is the only living God and to receive his instructions on how to live a happy successful life of peace and joy.

He is close to those who will reach out to Him in the time of their great need. Time is short and soon it will be too late to respond!!! Don't wait for an emergency to awaken you and you may avoid one.

I hope that you've had an opportunity to consider your own life in view of my experience. There is a God who so loved fallen man that He gave His only begotten Son to lift us out of our dead end lives. He promises eternity to those who receive Him as their personal Savior and submit to His heart cleansing promises.

Go to Chapter 1 "Stranded But Not Forgotten"

Go to Chapter 2 "Where Are You?"

If you want to reach the author you may email him at krickf@myworldmail.com

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