Rena Rowell-Hazlehurst, Georgia

Read Luke 21:32-36, Matthew 24:42-46, Matthew 25:13, Isaiah 32:15-18, Jeremiah 50:4-6,22 as foundational Scriptures for this article.

I would like to share a dream that I had last night.

I dreamed many of us were in a beach house. It was like a Church function as many people on the state level were in attendance. Our present Overseer and wife, our present General Evangelism Coordinator and many other state members were present along with many young people from the Hazlehurst Church.

The adults were inside the house. There were small single beds and couches that each were resting on. The feel was restful and relaxation. We were in a time of fellowship one with another. The beach house that we were in was high off the ground. There was a porch that many present and former young people were gathered on. Many of these young people were church kids and many were non church kids who used to attend. There was a gate/fence that was present and open, so the ocean waves made a channel that flowed through into the property that provided a personal beach area.

There was one brother who was standing at that gate as a security watch. Some of the kids on the porch were playing with me as I was sitting just inside the door. I rose up and went out the door, down some steep steps to the water. One of our youths was squatting down looking at the water. There were fish and other sea life that began to swim up to the surface and I began to tell this youth to stand back as the animals could bite them.

As I began to watch the waves come in on the rocks and that youth’s feet, I noticed the waves were getting high very quickly. I saw one wave come in and it barely covered the rocks. The next wave covered the rocks. The next wave covered that youth’s feet. The next wave covered that youth’s legs. I stood up and said, oh, my God! The high tide is coming in! I begin to scream, “High tide! High tide! Get inside the house! Get inside the house!” I ran back up the steps and screamed at the adults, “High tide is coming, high tide is coming!!”

 All the adults ran to the walls of windows and ran to the doors and began to usher people inside the house. Those youth that were on the porch were the first inside. As I ran back to the door and looked out at the ocean, I could see the huge waves driving in like blocks of concrete. The waves were in a square tier formation. Many people were still standing on the beach. I began to scream to those way across the beach line, “High tide, high tide, look behind you, look behind you!”

Some began to run to the house, but many were not watching. Many were not paying attention, and I couldn’t scream loud enough. Finally, I went back inside, and the windows and doors were shut.

What flooded my mind as I began to wake up was this:

The young adult that was standing at the gate watching to secure our group was inexperienced and could not discern the rising waters. Our young ministers, though they are doing their very best, need training to watch for the coming tide!

The young people on the porch were those presently and formerly affiliated with the church. When I called “high tide” they were the first to make it back into the house. To our youth, may I say, there is nothing wrong with set boundaries. They are for our protection! Please don’t wander too far away from the house- the church, that you can’t get back! Better yet, GET IN! And be prepared for that call. To the parents/members of lost children, let me encourage you. Our children have been taught the Church, and they know where to run in time of trouble. Keep praying. Keep fasting. Keep believing. They are just as close as the porch.

To the ministry in the house and those who criticize the seemingly, lack of concern; we may just be in a resting period, just as God rested during the creation (and God rested). A time of waiting. As I thinking about the ten virgins, five were wise but those five wise were also slumbering and sleeping. They were ready but resting. Are we in a time of rest? Are we ready for the call of “high tide”? When the bridegroom call was made, those virgins arose and trimmed their lamps.

In this dream, when the call was made, the adults in the house arose and began to usher in the inflow of people. Sometimes we may just be in a waiting/resting period, as we wait for the next step. Let us not dwell on what is not happening now, or the lack of church attendance, or as it may seem, the lack of work being done. We just might be at the point of wait. For sure, let us be ready!!

The Church of God is that house of safety. We can trust Her boundaries. We can trust that She will stand the coming tide. She is that Ark of Safety. When the time is right, the inflow WILL come! And Her Body, members in particular, will be ready to shelter all of God’s people that will heed the call.

May we all be ready! God bless you!