A Light Shines in the Darkness
photo credit: Stephanie Lopez
A few months ago I had an experience that will forever stay imprinted in me.
This is a story I would typically only share with a few friends (and i have) - and only specific ones who might listen openly. But as we stepped into this much anticipated week, i felt the pull to share more widely as we round out what has felt like a marathon year of struggle, disappointments, and lack of hope.
A few months ago I had a dream about an old friend and upon waking up I knew the dream was significant and sensitive to the timing of the season we are currently in, in our country.
In the dream, my friend (we'll call him Jamie) and I were at a retreat in a remote location. The weekend was specifically designed for congregational worship leaders (the music makers) from every Christian tradition to connect and worship together. The gathering was in a beautifully lit cabin-like building with large wall-size windows and rays of light pouring in from the west. On one side of the cabin a group of men and women were singing, hands lifted and eyes closed. As I left that room and entered another, I encountered my good friend. It was obvious in the dream that we hadn't seen each other in over 10 years and that there was much to catch up on. As time passed, Jamie updated me on his music career, his life, his family, and his kids, While he shared, I was keenly aware of his kindhearted spirit that literally transformed the room we were in. I was profoundly moved by the strong presence of peace he carried and it felt as though an imaginary bubble of safety surrounded him. As we wrapped up our conversation, I pulled out my phone to take a selfie with Jamie but somehow could not find the camera app. All technologies were failing and my sister even entered the room to help. Another 20-30 minutes passed by and we tried (to no avail) to capture the moment. Pretty embarrassing for 3 considerably tech-savvy humans, but at least it was a dream! At one point the 3 of us considered reentering the neighboring room where the traditional church worship service was taking place, but we felt strongly that our time together just reconnecting was more necessary than being in the other room. In any case, the picture never happened (#majorfail) and the dream ended.
Upon waking up, I could not shake the feeling that somehow this dream held some kind of deep importance. I spent some time with my morning coffee recalling as much as I could, journaling, and then asking God to take care of Jamie and his family...whatever they were up to in 2020.
“Should I reach out to him? Check on him? See how he was doing? Tell him about this random dream?” The day progressed and with the dream still etched in my mind, I drafted a long thorough email to Jamie....
“Jamie I had a dream about you last night! Nothing weird so don't get creeped out or anything, ok?” I then went on to describe the dream to him as I did above.
“Jamie, as soon as I woke up God brought this scripture to my mind - Romans 2:4 '...God’s kindness is intended to lead [us] to repentance?' I believe God is saying that your kindheartedness is your secret weapon and that the peace that you bring to your relationships and through your music is essential right now! As you've cultivated that fruit of the Spirit in your life, God will use that to pour out His love on people and draw them to Him. God is doing something very instrumental through the sound His artists are putting out in the world right now and he is using your sound to transform and heal hearts. We didn't go back into the worship service in the dream b/c I believe God was saying that that was “old wine” and His artists need to create “new wine” in this season - new music that breaks the mold of stale traditional Church music.
I continued on...
“Jamie, in my dream I felt like God was highlighting you as a strong tower and a place of refuge for others. And I know God was smiling on us and taking such pleasure in the 3 of us just hanging out and reconnecting. When I woke up I knew God was saying "community, communion, fellowship! Agape love!”
20 minutes after clicking send on my email to Jamie I had moved on. I'd never had such a clear dream about anyone
20 minutes after clicking send on my email to Jamie I had moved on. I'd never had such a clear dream about anyone, nor had I ever emailed a dream complete with interpretation and Bible references to someone. That’s totally something my mom would do! Not me! But I had sent it and had other things to focus on for the day.
But my phone rang.
It was Jamie.
JAMIE: Joy, I just got your email. Oh my God! I don't know what to think right now!
ME: Jamie, hey! Wow, it's so good to hear from you! What’s up?
JAMIE: Joy where do you live?
ME: Philadelphia. Why, what's up?
JAMIE: Joy, you're not going to believe this but I'm in Philadelphia right now. I just got here.
Jamie lives clear across the country closer to the West Coast.
ME: No way! No freakin' way!!! Are you kidding me! Oh my God!
JAMIE: Joy I'm literally in Philadelphia doing exactly what you saw in your dream!
(i was in shock and started shaking)
He described it as a deep burden he could no longer ignore…making music that he felt was needed and necessary for the world.
Jamie then went on to share. He had been in talks with his church for over a year about stepping down as the music minister to pursue his own music full-time. He described it as a deep burden he could no longer ignore and that God had given him a vision that he was finally stepping out to pursue- living as a singer/songwriter making music that he felt was needed and necessary for the world. Jamie shared that he was in Philadelphia meeting with family and friends, support-raising, sharing the vision, and holding out hope that they would feel called to invest in what he knew to be a necessary but seemingly difficult road ahead. He shared the doubts he'd been having along the way and the anxiety that came with the thought of providing for a family on a musicians salary.
As Jamie shared, I had goosebumps! I could not help but think how AWESOME God is! How was it possible that I could lay my head down to sleep one night and wake up the next morning with a vivid and detailed dream about a friend I hadn't talked to in so long? How could it be that this friend was in my city on that same day actively pursuing his “new wine” purpose. How much did God care about Jamie that he confirmed, affirmed and reassured my friend that he was on the right track, doing the right thing at the right time in a year where there is already quite enough uncertainty! How honored I was that God would use me to deliver this message!
Jamie couldn't stop saying, “I feel like we're in the Bible right now!”
I felt like it too.
That night, Jamie stopped over, before leaving town (yeah, he was literally in Philly just for the day). He shared more of his vision to create space for artists to connect in community together. I was yet again in awe of the dream’s accuracy - God's accuracy. But then again he's God!
Most of you reading this probably don’t know what to make of this story. Maybe you don’t hold to any faith tradition or consider yourselves spiritual. For some, maybe this is just an inspirational feel-good post keeping with that typical Christmas fuzzy warm feeling. And for others, maybe you reject the idea that things like this can even happen…or that this specific account is true. It is.
But here’s why I’m sharing...
2020 has been one for the books. Not just because of Covid or because we're all sitting ducks staring at computer screens like zombies; but because in the midst of the darkest year this world has experienced (at least in my lifetime), I have seen God's hand at work in the most dynamic of ways. I have seen him over and over piercing through the darkness with brilliant light. I have more stories of random crazy Spirit-filled stuff that happened to me...but nothing as notable as the one I've just shared.
Whether His presence feels as big and bright as a spotlight or small like one of those miniature keychain flashlights you get at a novelty story, His light is piercing through the darkness.