Prayer time with the Lord is always an amazing thing with me.  It can also be quite eye opening for me when I allow it to be.  Case in point.  For those of you who don't know (although, if you read my blog, you should), God regularly speaks to me through dreams.  He even uses visions on occasion to do the same thing.  But dreams are the primary method He uses to relay to me the "big ticket" items I need to learn and know about, as I actually pay closer attention to those than I do other things.  It's just how I'm wired to think.  Now, before I get into the main topic of this post, let me lay the groundwork for how God used the dreams He's given me to put all of this together for me.

Back a few years ago God gave me a dream involving a coming storm.  In fact, He's given me several.  But I'm only going to cover the first one since it's the only one that's applicable to this post.  If you want to read the others, just search the blog and you'll find them.  Anyhow, the year prior to the storm dream, He gave me another dream, one that was about a fall harvest that I was participating in.  And lastly, He gave me this dream involving a supernatural encounter with Him.  Now, before you continue reading the rest of this post, I ask that you stop, and take some time, and read the previously mentioned dreams first, as you'll need the context for the rest of what I'm going to talk about.

Also, please include this dream here in your reading as I will be using it as part of my explanation at the end.  After you finish reading, please continue on to the next paragraph.

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Okay, now that you're here, and you've read the other dreams, allow me to unwind all of this for you.  To start out, for those of you who don't know me, I'm a thinker.  I like to take my time and think my way through all kinds of things, to process them, to mull them over, and to put all of the pieces together like a giant jigsaw puzzle.  It's where I do my best work.  Those of you who do puzzles, read detective mysteries, or play chess, would probably understand this best. :)  So, anyhow, after work last night, during a moment of personal time with God, He began to take me, item by item, step by step, through a number of my dreams (ie, the mentioned dreams above), and highlighted to me several items of interest in each of them.  And, if you think I caught onto what God was trying to tell me right away, no, I did not.

We ended up talking for over 90 minutes before what He was trying to tell me finally clicked.  And that's not saying I'm slow.  It's like I mentioned above.  I sometimes have to think my way through stuff before I find the obscure, hidden things that are in them.  So, in the process of our talking, He gave me all of the clues that I needed, and then let me solve the puzzle on my own afterwards, which I love, and greatly appreciate.  Even better yet, through all of this, God was very patient with me, allowing me time and opportunity to process all of this and finally come to an understanding of what He was telling me.  As such, now that I can see it, and understand it, I can now explain to you what He explained to me.

All of this begins with dream 3.  If you remember, in that dream there were 3 of us (That's a God number He uses with me often, if you haven't figured that out yet, lol) over whom He sent a wave of blessing.  However, when this happened, I was upset because I didn't get the same blessing as the other two who were there with me.  Now, go back to dream two.  In that dream, I was out harvesting the fields when a blizzard of cotton came and stopped all my work such that I couldn't continue on, or even move, because there was just too much of it around me, on me, on the combine, etc. (plus, I broke the combine trying to get it free, so I wasn't going anywhere anytime soon.  ^_^;;  lol, oops.)

As another point of context, back when I first got that dream interpreted, I was told that the cotton was representative of blessings that other people would be getting in the coming soul harvest/revival that is to come, but they would be something that I could only stand there and observe, but would not partake of, or "harvest".  I remember being saddened by this, that I couldn't take part in them, and was only allowed to observe.  So, as a result of this, again I felt left out, just like I did in dream 3.  As yet another pont of context, for those who don't know, a combine is a REALLY tall piece of machinery, with some being taller than others depending largely on the size of the unit employed. 

To add to that, the base of the cab, for most units, begins at around 6-10 feet off the ground, with some having cabs as much as 20 feet off the ground.  Also, take note of the fact that the cotton was only about 4 feet deep on the ground.  So the top of it was around 6 feet below the base of the cab of the combine I was in.  And finally, lets roll back to dream one, about the tent and the storm, and the $8000 I found ($2000 to start, and an additional $6000 added, for a total of $8000, or a 4x blessing) that came after a storm.  Now that we've touched on everything you need to know for this explanation, I will now begin to highlight all of the important items from each of these dreams, and then bring all of this together to reveal to you what God showed me.

So, beginning again with dream 3, the wave of blessing, back when I first got this interpreted, I was told that I was only given peace because that's all I needed, and not the blessings that the other two received.  It was kinda the same thing with the harvest dream.  Others got the blessings, but I got left out.  Or, at least that's how I felt. In dream 1 I got a huge monetary blessing (FYI, it was symbolic of a larger gifting, and not literal money) after a major storm.  Now, go back and look at the two men that were in dream 3 with me and take note of their age.  They were young.  I, on the other hand, am not.  I'm actually quite "well seasoned" if you will. lol.  In dream two the cotton was the raw product you get directly out of the field, unrefined, and unprocessed.  So, with all that said, allow me to take all of this and break down the revelation of what God showed me.

Beginning with dream 1, what did God give me?  Money. How is money beneficial?  It's easily, quickly, and immediately convertible.  Ie, I can go out today and buy things with it.  You can't do that with raw cotton.  It requires time, and processing, before you can have a finished, convertible product.  Now, remember the two young men who got the radical encounter from God?  What were they?  Young.  Now, go back to the cotton.  What was it?  Raw.  Where was I standing when it came down?  In the cab of the combine ABOVE the cotton.  Starting to see the picture here? :)  Yeah, it took God 90 minutes to get me to where I finally understood this.  So feel privileged that it only took you about 10 minutes of me explaining this for you to get to this point. lol.

So, anyhow, let's dig deeper, and distill this down further.  The reason for why God, in dream 3, only needed to give me peace, vs what he gave the other two (ie, radical transformation, and raw gifts) is because He's already prepared me (the storm) and blessed me (the money) and taken me to a higher level (ie, through experience, which is represented by the cab of the combine), whereas those, the ones who received the radical move of God (dream 3), and the cotton (blessings, dream 2), are young, and inexperienced, with a blizzard of very raw gifts that first need refining before they can attain the same level of maturity and usefulness that God has already brought me to.

And that's not being said to put me in a "better than thou" place of pride or arrogance.  Far from it.  Instead, through all of this, God was saying to me, "Don't feel disappointed that you didn't get the same thing they did.  You actually don't need what they got because you've already been there, and have already completed that part of your journey.  They have not.  They're just starting out.  What they've been given is still raw and needs refining.  What you have does not."  Pretty cool, huh?  Now, go back and remember the dream I mentioned about about the silver.  While the dream itself talks about forgiveness, God still used the context of the silver it talks about to further reinforce this.  How, you might ask?  Well, go look at what silver is and ask yourself, how is it used?  How is it traded?  And how is it typically sold in most cases?  Silver is typically bought, sold, and used in a refined and purified state.  Not a raw one.  A refined one. 

Remember, for 99% of people, we do not buy, sell or trade silver in its raw, unrefined ore form.  Instead we transact with it using the refined metal only.  Well, if you have and use it, anyways. ^_^  So, because God has already purified and refined me, He only needed to give me peace, as that's all I needed, and not the radical, supernatural, and powerful experience that the other two young men were given.  They, on the other hand, having only recently received their gifts, which was represented by the fresh, raw cotton, are just starting out, and still require refinement.  Hence the radical experience they were given.  Think of that as the opening effort, or the match that lights the fires of refinement they will soon go through.

So, while I would've loved to have been blessed with the incredible experience that the two young men were given, it wasn't necessary, as I've already been there, and ben through everything they are about to experience.  See how this all played out, and how God interpreted this to me?  Believe me, just like God gave me peace in the dream, He gave me peace about everything, and a really encouraging, exciting revelation about what He'd been showing me over time, which did in fact bring me peace.  Anyhow, that's what God showed me last night, using bits and pieces of other dreams from the past, to teach me that important lesson.

Ain't God great like that? :D  Anyhow, I just wanted to share that with all of you.