Several nights ago I had this dream. I was with a group of people whom I knew to be residents of the same village as I had been living in. We heard war had broken out in regions not far from us. Most likely it would spread to the village. So we were compelled to leave.
At the start of the dream, I was busy organizing people. Each household was to put all their belongings on their own cart. We were to escape along a road leading to the mountains. It seemed that I had already packed up my stuff and I did not have a household, so I was spared to instruct and help others to set things in motion.
As I was helping here and there, couple of guys rushed to me for an urgent matter. Somehow, a man went crazy and was trying to kill others and he was quickly approaching. Followed by several panic people, I took my stride to meet the mad man. I recognized him when I saw him in a distance. He was a dweller outside the village, an outcast. Seemed that he had already hurt several people and was now roaming about trying to hurt others. I quickly came up to confront him. Unpleasant feelings rushed through my mind as I was approaching him. There were fear, disgust, even hatred.
Somehow I managed to hold myself together and came to his front. Unexpected, he came to a halt the moment he saw me. His face flared up and he was ready to burst into violence. Aware of the danger, I instantly began to gaze into his eyes, trying to subdue him with the power of faith. At that, as if something began to take hold him so he could not move himself anymore as he struggled hard, trying to strike at me. With these clear manifestations, I clearly knew that he was “demon-possessed”. I also knew then the only defense and solution I had was to cast the demon out of this man. So I laid my right hand on his forehead, he struggled to get away by swaying his head. It did not do. I then knew I had to step up to invoke the Name of my Lord. So I spoke with a loud and stern voice: “In the Name of Jesus”. And repeated that few times. His rage and struggle quickly died out. He became very much frightened. The towering and imposing stature of his withered into that of a fearful child.
But somehow, he was still not being delivered. For a moment I was at loss with what to do. Suddenly a thought dawned to me that I needed to separate this man from the wicked spirits. The demons had so strongly took hold of the man that he had no strength to control them, nor himself. Clearly my negative feelings towards this man greatly hindered the power of my prayers. As I was pondering on how to effectively appropriate my heart and action, the man fell to the ground like dead. This put the crowd people in awe. By now many had gathered to see this spectacle. I quickly recollected myself and urged them to come back to their tasks.
As we came back to our packing business, I was still helping others, another unexpected thing happened. A box of food fell to the ground. The people around began to push one another in order to grab some. The food was some left-overs. It was supposed to be eaten the day before. However, it seemed to fresh still, even appealing because they were some delicacies, cooked very well and very colorful. Each person took a piece then went off. But there was this particular fellow who was pushing around and tried to grab one piece after another. So I stepped up trying to stop him. But he paid no attention. He began to violently throw others aside and tried to grab the last piece, which was his third piece as I noticed. I quickly took hold the same piece, tore it in half, and only offered to him the first half.
Suddenly the impropriety of this action of mine struck hard on me. I had no real need of this food, yet the selfish thought that I might have a use of it on the journey and the revengeful passion to act up against someone who made me quite upset totally took hold me. I thrusted myself into attitudes and behaviors I would never entertain in normal circumstances. I should knew better. I should have let go my anger and let the man have what he wanted-it was left-over anyway. While boiling over my remorses, a revelation came to me that even without anything, provision for all of us would be readily prepared as we further along our journey.
At that, the dream ended.
Impressions:
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- The improper manner of my handling of the left-over: I was not supposed to behave like that and get into such a meaningless struggle with anyone. I was supposed to show nobility and much grace to others, even when they seemed to be unfair and selfish.
