Interactions with God #98
Starting with the layoff from iPlanet in 2001, I began to have a recurring dream. When God repeats something, whether a message you hear or a dream you get, He wants you to notice. It is not that you are slow or just not getting it, because God is more than able to communicate in such a way as to make absolutely sure you do “get it”. No, it is usually to emphasize the message that He is going to tell you. Just an aid in remembrance.
In these dreams, the circumstances varied, but the theme was always the same. I was doing something, walking, riding, talking…it really didn’t matter. What did matter was that I was chewing gum. Yes, gum. In the dream I would reach that place where the gum had no taste, so I spit it out. In each dream, it was the same. A tiny piece would get stuck in between my teeth. That piece would start to grow. I would then pull out the grown piece and yet there would be several small pieces now stuck in my teeth. They would also grow at an increasing rate. The dream would end with me pulling gum out of my mouth as fast as it would grow! No, these dreams were not pleasant. I would wake in a panic.
As I said, these dreams had recurred often since 2001. Around August or September of 2003, I had another one. Realizing that God was looking to communicate something, and since He wouldn’t tell me what it was directly, I went to a man who I thought might have an idea what they meant.
Emmanuel Qureshi was, by this time, one of the pastors at Vineyard Christian Fellowship North Phoenix. Before we were sent to start a church in Cave Creek, Emanuel was my overseer for our particular home group. He grew up in India and was then living with His wife in Phoenix. Emmanuel was a man I respected and trusted. He also had attended a Prophetic Dream Interpretation course delivered by John Paul Jackson. John Paul, was the prophet who in an earlier Interaction had that disturbing word for me about the occult. I hoped that through the course, Emmanuel had gained some insight that would help me understand what God was communicating. He did, but it had absolutely nothing to do with the dream interpretation course.
After the church service that day, I spoke to Emmanuel about the dream and asked for his help with understanding it. He said, “It is interesting that you came to me regarding this dream. You see, in my native language, specific to the village where I grew up in India, the word “gum” means “worry”.
Yea, I was chewing on my worry, making it grow. The message was rather straight forward.
I never had the dream again.