I know that there are plenty of doubters and skeptics out there. You, dear reader, may be one of them. But I am here to tell you, God is still in the business of speaking to His children.

Last night, I had a nightmare. Not just one of those weird bad dreams where you’re being chased by something and none of it makes any sense. No, this dream contained among two of the worst things that could happened. They must have been born out of deep unconscious fears that decided to rear their ugly heads. This was one of those dreams you wake from in a panic. With heart rate accelerated, you scramble to get your bearings and snap back to reality. And there I was, a little after 6am on a Sunday when I’m supposed to be sleeping in. Wide awake and reeling. So, after a minute or two, I I take a deep breath and begin to pray.

Lord God, help me to know truth and to relinquish my fears to you. Calm my unnerved heart. Forgive me for all my sins or thought, words, or deeds. Cleanse me inside and out. Help me to find rest in you and to be renewed.

As I pray, my heart is calming a bit. But oddly, I have this overwhelming urge to grab my phone. I resist because I think it’s just a distraction from my prayer time. But the urge grows. So I pause and pick up the phone on my bedside. Recently, I have paused notifications from 10 pm to 7 am. Somehow, I have a notification on my screen from an app called “Abide”. Not only do I have notifications silenced for another hour almost, but I don’t have notifications turned on for this app at all. But there it was. And it read, “Balm for the restless heart. Come and find rest in Me.” And as I read it, shocked and amazed, another notification popped in. This time from the Bible app. And I read these words, “Fear not for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine.” And there I was, at peace and overwhelmed all at the same time. Not by the awful feelings I had upon waking, but by His incredible goodness.

Did the skies open and a voice from heaven come to me? No. But there I was, forced awake by a dream that left me sick to my stomach. And in the midst of prayer, I received timely and powerful words through a means that never should have been possible. I will leave you to wrestle with how that is possible. But for me, God is still in the business of speaking to His children. Even in the mundane and what could seem like trivial issues of one’s life, God is there. And He cares. And He speaks.

“Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.”

Jeremiah‬ ‭29‬:‭12‬-‭13‬ ‭ESV

Peace in Christ brothers and sisters.