Catharine's dream—or better—her nightmare, warned of impending danger. Yet by the time the real-life peril entered her life, she had forgotten the dream. God intervened and Catharine escaped from the devil's trap unharmed, but not without learning a valuable lesson about paying close attention to your dreams.
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Catharine's Dream Come True
My real-life story starts out with a dream that came true ...Footsteps thudded behind me as the sound ricocheted in my ears. All that was heard on this dark and deserted street was heavy breathing, and the continuous pounding of his feet behind me.
I glanced over my shoulder to gauge how close he was to me as sweat poured off my face in rivulets. I pumped my arms and legs faster, hearing my heart thundering in my ears. My limbs pained me terribly for they were protesting the sudden onslaught of imposed exercise. My breath came in short wailing gasps and sobs of terror.
Running for My Life
I looked behind me again and tried to see his face, but it was covered by a black ski mask. His footsteps gained on me with every step I took. Still he made no sound. I ran for my life.I frantically looked around me, my legs trembling as terror gripped my insides, searching for any place of refuge. Seeing none I forged ahead. My eyes were suddenly drawn to a yellow sign by the side of the road. The sign depicted a man falling down a steep cliff indicating danger ahead. The road ended.
I continued running past it, thinking I could slow down before reaching the edge of the cliff, but I was running too fast to stop, and downward I fell.
I plunged toward the earth screaming the name of Jesus as I fell. I dragged out his name in one long wail, hoping that he would save me. Falling faster toward the ground, my life flashed before me—all the good times, bad times, and regrets that my life was about to end so abruptly.
As I reached the bottom of the cliff my body suddenly righted itself, as if a giant hand turned me right side up, and I landed on my feet. Looking down at my body, I realized I was alive and whole, not a scratch on me.
Shaking all over I fell to my knees, as tears of gratitude streamed down my face, thanking God that He had saved me from death. Then, with a shout my body jerked, and I woke up, sitting straight up in bed. Sweat was pouring down my face, my nightgown was soaked. It was just a dream!
Just a Dream?
I lay shaking, trying to make sense of the dream. Other experiences in life taught me to pay attention to my dreams, but I could not apply this one to anything happening at the time.The dream warned me of approaching danger, to heed the signs to whatever situation would develop. There would be scary moments throughout the ordeal, but I would land on my feet. Since danger did not seem to be knocking at my door at the time, I put the dream out of my mind a few days later.
Some months after that I became involved in a home-based "business opportunity" on the Internet. I was contacted by a person (who will remain unidentified) to facilitate financial transactions between his organization and potential sponsors of what seemed like a very worthy cause. Their goal, he said, was to raise funds for life support systems in third world countries. Life support equipment is important and much needed in poor countries.
We corresponded for a few months, and finally he emailed to inform me that a sponsor would be sending a cheque. He instructed me to cash the cheque at a certain bank, take out my fee for handling the transaction, and send the rest on to him.
Missing the Warning Signs
From the beginning, each email had been carefully scrutinized, as I looked for anything that didn't seem right. He never asked me for money. So when the cheque came that day in the mail, made out to me, my thought right away was, “Wow! This is a real cheque; they did just what they said they would do!”My daughter informed me that cash stores have machines that verify the authenticity of cheques. So with that assurance I took the unsigned cheque to a cash store instead of the bank they suggested, thinking this would speed up the process.
While they verified the legitimacy of the cheque, they made me wait a long time, telling me it would take some time to get all the money together. The next thing I knew, a policeman came into the store and approach me. He asked me several questions concerning the cheque, and my job position. I answered his questions and then he told me the cheque number that I had presented to the cash store had already been used and the cheque was a fraud.
I was arrested for circulating a forged document and spent an uncomfortable night in jail.
Remembering the Dream
While I lay on the cold bench that night in jail, the Lord reminded me about the dream that I had months before. I recognized myself to be in the middle of the dream, and that it had been to warn me of this trouble coming my way. Just like the dream, the warning signs would not be heeded, and thus the fall from the cliff. I had failed the test!My day in court came and I was found not guilty, yet this was an incident that should never have happened. If I had remembered the dream when I received the cheque, I would have recognized it as a sign, and tore the check up. I would have realized the "business opportunity" was a trap and I was in for a fall. But I did not heed the dream.
When I am facing problems in my life, I have learned now to look at every sign I see. The smallest details can mean something and can contribute to the whole picture. Even if signs or dreams do not make sense to me, they may be God’s way of getting a message to me. I have learned that these signs are sent by the Creator to guide us.
