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Elevator Dream
October 14th, 2014
A few weeks ago I had a dream that I feel is an important message of encouragement, not only for myself but for others, especially those who have had their "hope deferred" (Proverbs 13:12) for their callings.
The Dream: I am looking and I see the first university I attended. I am there again, back in school attending classes. Then I am in the lobby of the dormitory that I had lived in before and am going to live in again. It is actually an old tower. From the ground floor lobby I am getting into the elevator to go up. But now the elevator is very large, like a giant cargo elevator and many people are getting on with me but I can't see their faces and don't know who they are. The doors close and we began to go up. Then suddenly the elevator begins to speed up, going very fast. I am worried because I know that the building is old, but the elevator continues safely upwards.
The Interpretation: The fact that I am back at the first university I attended has a two-fold meaning. The university is symbolic of "higher learning" in the things and ways of the Lord. For me personally the university in my dream was the one where I almost changed my major to religious studies in preparation for seminary. I ended up leaving and finishing a secular degree at another university. Being at the first university not only represents "higher learning" but also returning to my "first love". Being on the "ground floor" of the dormitory represents being at the most basic level of a calling or ministry; you know you are called and are doing what you can to prepare but have not yet been called forth by the Lord. This waiting could have been a period of years or even decades. Towers can have both good and bad symbolic meaning in dreams and visions; however the Lord did not give me a specific meaning for the "tower" so in this case it just represents the dormitory tower I lived in. The group getting on the elevator represents a generation of leadership that have not yet been commissioned into their callings. Some are younger, but I believe many are "non-traditional" or somewhat older like myself who have been waiting on the Lord's timing and not our own. The elevator being large means that there are many included in this group. Up to this point few, if any in this generation have recognized or even met each, other; but that will change through the shared experience from the Lord. The elevator going up represents promotion and commissioning into our callings. The elevator starting to rise quickly means that after the initial commissioning, that the Lord will cause a supernatural growth in giftings and ministries, to the point that it could cause fear and uncertainty, but if we will look to and depend on the Lord He will cause things to go smoothly.
When I had been given this much I thought that I had the entire interpretation. However the detail of the dormitory building being "old" kept nagging at me so I kept asking the Lord about it. What the Lord told me was that the building being old represented old "faces and places". The old faces are the Saints of old, from the Apostles through great men and women of God like Columba of Iona, St. Patrick, Joan of Arc, to more modern Saints like William Seymour, Mary Woodworth Etter, Smith Wiggleswoth, John G. Lake and others. What these great men and women of God have in common is that when they went on to be with the Lord, they left behind their callings, giftings and mantles. I believe many in the generation I saw are called to take up the callings, giftings and mantles and carry on from where these saints left off. It is no less than fulfillment of the second part of Malachi 4:6; we the children will have our hearts turned to our spiritual fathers (and mothers).
The "places" represent actual places and tie in with another dream I had quite some time ago. In this other dream I was on a high, desert ridgeline looking down into a green valley. I heard a voice say clearly (though I could not see the speaker) 'The ancient wells'. Then I was led to Genesis 26:18 "And Isaac dug again the wells of water which they had dug in the days of Abraham his father, for the Philistines had stopped them up after the death of Abraham. He called them by the names which his father had called them." The "old places" and the "ancient wells" have the same meaning; they are places where there were great outpourings of the Holy Spirit and Revival. Just as some are called to pick up the old mantles and ministries, others are called to "re-dig the wells of revival". They have been stopped up by the Philistines (the enemy) and in some cases even usurped and perverted. But God has not forgotten them and wants His children to reclaim them. In order to do this will have to learn of and reclaim the old mantles of the saints who dug these wells. This is again the second part of Malachi 4:6. Lou Engle has written a book called "Digging the Wells of Revival" which I highly recommend if you feel your calling/commission lies in this area.
At this point I feel I would be remiss if I did not confess that when I had this dream I very nearly dismissed it as just a dream with no importance. About the time I had this dream @ChristianDreamz connected with this minsitry via Twitter. I felt that it was an important connection. I had never been interested in books on dream interpretation, but I recall sensing from the Lord that I should buy her book,"Dreams and Visions: Unlocking the Language of God" and just have a look at it. I did and as I began reading I quickly realized the importance of this dream. So thanks to the Holy Spirit and @ChrisitanDreamz for helping me realize the importance of every dream!
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Update October 27th, 2014
Just after I posted this dream I attended a Christian conference where the Lord had told me to be prepared to share this dream. As I did so I was given a few more insights.
One insight was that the group ascending on the elevator would have a unity that can only come from walking with and in the Holy Spirit. Another insight was that this group would be taken to a "high" place (again, ascending) where they would experience the reality of being seated with Jesus Christ in heavenly places.
After one instance of sharing this dream, it provoked a very interesting conversation where a gentlemen described the building of modern-day skyscrapers. The interesting part for me was that I learned that the foundation can actually take longer to build than the actual surface structure. The application is that the Lord has been building a deep foundation in many, so for a long time it may have seemed that nothing was happening, but the season has come that the foundation has been finished and now the building construction will be "seen" in many lives.
A common question I was asked was "where did you go to school?". At first I was hesitant to answer this question but I felt that the Lord wanted to show me something in this. The university in the dream was Western Kentucky University. It's colors are red and white (the blood of Jesus and purity). The mascot is "Big Red"; he is described as a red furry blob, which again speaks of the blood of Jesus. The sports teams are called the 'Hilltoppers'; this speaks of overcoming, but which I believe is also a pun on the Lord's part as my dream spoke to many who could be considered "over the hill". A common practice at sports events, however, is to wave a red towel in the air. This is Revelation 12:11 "and they overcame him by the blood of the lamb and by the word of their testimony and they did not love their lives to the death." On one of the streets that circles the university there is a section where the image of a hand waving a red towel and this image is repeated many times as one goes down the street. This reminded me of 2 Samuel 6:13 "and so it was, when those bearing the ark of the Lord had gone six paces, that he sacrificed oxen and fatted sheep." The context is David was bringing the ark to Jerusalem. This is how the generation I saw will operate; not only walking in the Holy Spirit but bearing the presence of the Lord in and with them, overcoming through the Blood of Jesus and the Word of testimony.
In the Western part of Kentucky there is one of "wells" mentioned above. On June 13-17 1800, the first religious camp meeting in the United States was held at the Red River Meeting House in Logan County, and was the start of the Second Great Awakening.