black bears of California

Black bears of California
8-28-08
Last night I had a dream which I’d like to share with you. In it there was a narrator who walked along side of me. First I was shown various people, one at a time, whom the narrator would say of “this is a Christian”. The last one was an older woman who had what looked like a tear at the end of and underneath her nose. She told me that there was a plague in the bears.
Then I saw vicious black bears chasing people. There was someone behind these bear attacks. I saw a fire come from behind and consume them all (the bears and the people being chased). The second time I saw the bears chasing firemen, who ran across a log overhanging a cliff, leaping off the end. The bears chased them, one grabbing the last fireman in his jaws, as they also leapt off the end of the log off the cliff. The fire came from behind and consumed them all.
In the last scene of this dream I was shown a piece of charred wood, so badly burned that it looked like charcoal. This was the end of the dream.
In prayer this morning the Lord showed my husband and I that this was a dream about satan’s (the man behind the bear attacks) attacks on Christians in God’s kingdom. It is about having a way of escape from our trials (1 Cor 10:13), and about what materials we have built with (1 Cor 3:12-15).
In the dream, the elderly woman had discernment (focus on her nose), coupled with grief (tear). She relayed the story of what was happening to those who were guardians/protectors (firemen) over the work of God. Their job was to ensure that those whom they had care over would not suffer loss by fire. These could be ministers of God, encouraging others to build with gold, silver, and precious stones rather than wood, hay or stubble. But they themselves had not considered that their own work would come under the attack of the enemy and that their escape needed to be secure, and not built with flammable material. Because they had no secure plan (log leading over the edge of a cliff), and their escape itself was made of wood, their escape was a “Leap of faith” into destruction, as they knew not the plan of God for this event. The attack of the bears is an attack of satan’s kingdom, foretold in scripture (see Daniel 7:21 and Rev 2:8-10). These are the times we now live in, and we see the attack on the lives of Christians through illnesses and financial loss, as well as the attack on ministries by the same means, plus slander and all kinds of malice.
In reviewing this dream with me, the Lord reminded me of a prophecy that provided our means of escape from an up-coming trial. We were then a part of a ministry which provided housing at a reasonable rate for its staff and students. They were also building new condos for staff who could afford it, and wanted those in the condos to be a prayer shield for those housed on campus. The third provision for staff housing was a set of apartments across from the campus. These had been divided up amongst private owners who rented their apartments out like condos, and many were rented to the ministry staff.
“Way of escape”: One day the Lord told me that the housing in the town that the ministry was in would “dry up”. It was not long after this personal prophecy that He directed my husband to buy land, and build a home. We built a 2 story house and rented the bottom floor to ministry staff at a lower-than-market price. The prophecy, and our obedience to buy and build a home, were the “way of escape” from the up-coming trial.
The trial: While our house was being built a housing boom began, driving the price of houses and rentals sky high. There was an untimely delay in the condos being finished which left staff waiting, without secure housing, for a year or more before they could move in. The escalating price of housing caused the private owners of the apartment-turned-condos to put their places up for sale. And the secure housing on campus was inadequate to house both students and staff.
How had the ministry prepared for this up-coming time? They did not heed the prophecy about housing “drying up” because they believed prophecy was only for strengthening, comfort, and encouragement (1 Cor 14:3). They did not see the need to be warned of an up-coming time of trial. Secondly, they had a provision for the future, which was the condos they were building. Though they were following the plan of God, they were unaware of the enemy’s plan to delay them. And finally, they did not see that certain men creeping in aware were corrupt, causing poor decisions to be made concerning the financing of the condo-prayer-shield, which resulted in the ministry being in terrible debt.
You might look at the trial above and say “this situation needs correction, but why the fire of God?/ or judgment on their works?” If you had been in the situation above you would have seen many Christians behaving coldly to their brothers and sisters in Christ. This was the bad fruit from being in the trial without a God-provided plan of escape. These believers did not want to share their housing, clothing, or food with their less-fortunate brothers. Their attitude was that “If it’s God’s will for you to be here, He will provide for you.” So the people who had secure housing did not lack, and those who had no housing did. Though not all ministry staff were cold-hearted, there were enough who were that many other staff left.
Plan of escape: I see that the Lord is faithful to warn us of events that will come up in our lives to thwart us, and to defeat us. He is also faithful to prepare us, if we will listen and obey. It is noteworthy that there is a warning repeated several times in the book of Hebrews which begins “Today, when you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts . . .” (Heb 3:7,8,15 & 4:7). Our plan of escape, and our success in His kingdom both lie in listening, receiving His Word, and obeying the steps He directs us to take. There may be black bears in our lives, but our escape will not be found in running from them. We will not find security in being properly clothed, like the firemen. All our skill, our refinement of the talents God gave us, and the good testimony of our faith will not cause us to survive if we heed not the spoken Word of God in this hour. Let us encourage each other as we see the Day drawing near, and have faith that He who leads us is Faithful. Amen.