I awoke with a start, my heart pumping in my chest. The dream had been so vivid and the colors more alive than any I had ever seen before while asleep, but the alarm I felt was just as intense. It was November 22, 2020. America had just gone through an election (not to mention Covid) and due to the suspicious nature of how election night unfolded, many political leaders were calling for audits & accountability. Many in the church were calling for prayer meetings, seeking the Lord for answers in such a confusing time. I was pleased to join my prayer with one such prayer movement that was believing God for America's destiny to be restored as a God-fearing nation. Although this prayer movement never prophesied that Trump would be reinstated, the dreams and prophetic words that came out of the movement were hopeful, even suggesting that such an outcome were possible if God's people would pray. Some of the key members in this movement were having dream after dream of America in revival, with leaders of our nation even turning to God. So when I awoke that day in November having just dreamed something completely opposite, I didn't really know what to do with it. I decided to share it with my husband and a couple of my praying friends and we took some time to pray over the dream together. Still, beyond these few friends, I tucked the dream away and incubated it in my heart.
And now here we are as a nation nine months later to the day. Nine months. Nine months and what have we birthed? Greater division, greater corruption, greater riots, outrage, and disaster than we could have expected a year ago. From the immigration crisis at our wide-open southern border to the taking of Afghanistan by the Taliban at a demonic rate of speed, America is in a more precarious position than I've ever seen in my lifetime. It's like we're sitting on a powder-keg and the fuse has already been lit. It's made me pull my dream back out and ponder it once again. And as I do, the feeling of alarm is as real to me as the day I dreamed it back on November 22, 2020. This is what I dreamed as recorded in my journal:
The Dream
Last night I dreamed that America was in the throes of rioting. I knew it was widespread. It was almost as if a [wicked] regime had taken over the majority of government. I was with my husband (although I don’t know if I ever saw his face, only the back of his head) and he was leading me by the hand with a small group of [Christian] people out of a area in a city that was beginning to grow more hostile.
We were trying to get out safely and without being noticed, so we couldn’t move too quickly, or we would be seen. My husband held my hand the entire time as we walked down the pathway where people were yelling, chanting about America being bad... we were walking next to a building with a flat roof and people were on top of the roof and they started spitting on us because they realized we weren’t with them. I heard someone from our small group say “they just passed a law that says it’s OK for them to spit on us [Christians].” Because people started spitting on us, the crowd started to take notice of us and down on the ground where we were walking, there was more yelling and crowding and shoving so we had to move faster but still try not to be noticed too much.
We made it into some kind of large scale building that reminded me of a mall. It seemed abandoned. It was darker in there but it was almost like a lot of the electricity had been cut and it was emergency lighting only. There were still groups of violent people (there were small groups of angry people burning things in trash cans and rioting stores) within the mall but it was easier to find a hiding place there. My husband leads us into a very crowded room where we run into former pastors/employers who fired us unjustly. Suddenly, my mom is there as well. I knew that different groups of church people and pastors were there trying to hide and escape. I knew that this room was jammed back with such Christians. There was tension between me and our former pastors (because it was awkward), but I also knew in that moment that none of that mattered. [The reality of what was happening in the world was all that mattered now...not our past hurts]. My mom gathers us together and says, “Listen… Someone needs to go to the authorities of this regime and find out what their demands are. You don’t take over something with violence unless there are demands. We must know what those demands are.“ She felt like our former pastor's wife was the one to go to them because of her charisma and ability to negotiate but this pastor was very hesitant because she was fearful and so she shook her head no, no, no. I agreed to go with her if that would make her more comfortable. I pulled her aside and spoke to her one on one about coming up with a plan to find out what the demands were and how it was possible for us to buy some time through this so that the true authorities could come in and bring order.
The next part of the dream we are all together in a maroon van driving on a highway outside of a major city. This part of the dream had much more color and was much more vivid. We were driving in a newer modern maroon van. My husband was driving. We were able to move around in the van like it was a bus. Everyone in the van is dead silent as we are watching the chaos outside: rioting people, marches, picketing, violence was all around. We are having to drive very slowly on the highway because, although traffic is sparse, no one knows if the chaos of rioting people is spilling into the street up ahead. So we creeped along watching. To our left and to our right was small green hills… Not large hills but it was pretty landscape with suburban style businesses along the highway. But every place where you could see a business and even out on the grass, there were groups of chanting, angry people. I looked to my right and in front of one business I saw - very vividly - a group of people burning American flags. I could see the red, white, and the blue of the flags and the vibrant red of the flames. Never have I seen such vibrancy in a dream. People were chanting about death to America. It was so shocking to see. I started noticing multiple fires throughout my scope. I realized that a lot of the people were young and careless and not thinking about the consequences of starting fires outside and how they could spread to buildings. I then saw that next to that building where the flags are being burned, there was a young man sitting in a chair who had wrapped himself in something that was supposed to keep him safe from fire. But he himself chose to be lit on fire as a protest symbol, almost as if burning a flag wasn’t enough, he himself had two friends that had set him on fire and he thought this protective, flame-retardant layer would keep him safe. But I watched as the flames were creeping up to his head which was not protected. I made a comment about it out loud.... about how this young man was going to end up being burned by the flames and my heart sank. I felt sick. It was so vivid. At that moment, our former pastor's wife speaks for the first time in the dream and says, “I cannot believe this is my hometown. This is the town I love. “ And it was in that moment, I realized it was the St. Louis area. I then woke myself up ,pretty freaked out.
The Interpretation
When I dreamed this dream, I was honestly full of hope for our nation. I was holding on to a belief that God could turn it all around if we would pray. And while I believe it will always be God's heart to bless, I also know that there are hours and seasons where his blessings are withheld and where mankind reaps what he sows. Although part of this dream has personal application, I feel this dream is important for the church in America, and not just me personally. I will not attempt to interpret all of it, but I do feel that I need to point out a few key things.
First, we believers in America need to prepare ourselves for persecution. For far too long we have preached a suffering-free gospel when the Bible clearly states that this is not the way of things. In fact, Jesus said in John 15:20, "Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you." I won't take the time today to list the many scriptures about persecution and suffering that should be expected by believers. It's just that we as Americans have lived for so long in a season of blessing & prosperity, we have actually begun to believe that we are free from this portion of Kingdom advancement (Matt. 11:12). I pray that all of the dreams and prophecies that came out of the many powerful prayer movements last year do come to pass; but beloveds, the chance of them coming to pass apart from persecution is growing less and less. We must make sure our faith isn't resting in a God of our own making - one that makes sure no harm ever comes our way due to our faith. Our faith must rest in a God who promised us that, in this world we would have trouble, but that He overcomes the world.
I do believe that my husband represents Jesus in this dream and in the dream, my husband was always leading me safely. The Lord truly wants to lead us away from temptation. He wants to lead us to safety as my husband did in this dream, but He was also leading me to the enemies camp at the end of the dream. We must be prepared to hold on to his hand no matter where He leads us - whether that is through the valley of the shadow of death or straight to the enemies camp.
Second, I believe that my mom represents Holy Spirit in this dream. While Christians were in hiding, my "mom" brought together two parties within the body who had broken relationship. It was very clear in my dream: the Holy Spirit is saying now is the hour to put aside your hurts, your differences, and any petty feuds and misunderstanding, because now is the hour to bind to one another in order to save a nation. We need to learn to do it before the great shaking comes! How much sweeter it will be if we will shake ourselves NOW from the sin that so easily entangles us in order to stand shoulder to shoulder with our brothers and sisters in the fight. When you are fighting for your life, that past argument won't matter. When you are hiding for your safety, those petty differences will blow away. So let's choose to search our hearts for all malice, envy, and strife while it is still called TODAY.
Third, let's keep praying for a generation, church, because prayer changes things. Just like in my dream, there are many young people who are playing with fire in our nation, both in their ideologies and in their theologies. Marxism and false-grace abounds in our universities and pulpits. Critical Race Theory and Gender Fluidity are in our preschools, for Mercy's sake! We have a generation that is playing with fire and as the old adage goes: if you play with fire, you will get burned. This was the most vivid part of my dream with colors so alive, they almost seemed unearthly. As the flames ramp up in our nation, we cannot let fear silence us into prayerlessness. Like I said, the dream ended with believers being taken together to the evil regime's headquarters by our husband. God wants to give us strategies in prayer that will topple the enemies camp and help us hold ground until God's authority - whatever that looks like for our nation - returns. Whether that is in national revival or Jesus' return, let's believe that God has something in his heart to save this nation. Be prepared for persecution, yes, but prepare the way of the Lord at the same time!