Perfect Love

Today I woke at 4:30 AM from a very vivid dream. I was in a school classroom with a group of people and there was a fire raging outside the building. The person in charge, which I assume now was the teacher, told us that there were firemen outside working hard to put out the fire and that we would be rescued soon. After what seemed like a very long time of waiting, I started walking around the room looking out of the windows. As I peered through the windows that seemed to surround the room all I could see were billowing flames of fire. It was clear to me that barring a miracle; we were about to be engulfed in the flames ourselves. We all came together in the center of the room and got down on our hands and knees to pray. As I was fervently praying for God to come and save us, I began to feel the heat of the flames and my mind began to race. I was thinking, we are not going to be saved; we are going to burn to death! God was not going to rescue us. Then I woke up.

Upon reflection, I can see this dream as a graphic snapshot of my life. I have been in the classroom of life. The other students are all of humanity. The teacher is Jesus. The firemen represent all of the trappings of the world that we place our hope in to rescue us from our pain and emptiness. The fire itself is the harsh reality of life on earth. Pain and suffering in this world are inescapable. And so that best we can do is to cry out to Jesus to save us. Save us from the flames that are nipping at our necks. Save us from ourselves; from the deeply entrenched fears that we carry with us. My life is messy. I often find myself doubting whether God is going to save me from my own messiness.  Living in fear is worse than dying in flames. None of us has the power to save ourselves from the dangers and pitfalls that this world brings to us. Our only hope is to cling to the love of God that will carry us through the flames.

There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.

                                                                                1 John 4:18