Blessings from the shark dream

Last night, I had this really fascinating dream.

In my dream, I was on a pleasure cruise, sort of like Gilligan's Island. Then, we ended up getting blown off the ship in a big yellow life raft. Now, before you start thinking it was a nightmare, you need to know I wasn't scared. I actually thought it was really cool. (So not me in real life, but that's why we have dreams, right?) Then, we lost the raft, and were swimming in this tunnel. The fish were super cool... so beautiful and colorful. Except every few minutes, we'd hear this noise, the fish would disappear, and sharks would show up. (I keep saying we, because someone was with me, but I don't know who. A woman.) The sharks would nip at our feet, and I'd kick them really hard in the snout. Try that in real life. The sharks would back off. Finally, just as I saw the light at the end of the tunnel, the shark opened his mouth really wide like he was going to swallow me whole. I kicked my leg back to kick him again, wishing I had a harpoon or something, and I woke up. As I woke up, I heard a voice tell me that I had everything I needed to defeat the sharks because they were machines, something I could tell because of the noise they made. It was mechanical, not a shark noise. (As if I could tell you what noise a shark made.)

The point of telling you my dream is something that God spent the whole day showing me. Now I have no idea if it was actually related to my shark dream, or if I'm reading into the shark dream in retrospect. So bear with me.

In my dream, I kept fighting against the sharks. As they chased me, and I kicked them, I was really scared. Though with each successful battle, I felt more confident. So much so that as the shark came for the final bite, I really did believe I could beat the shark. Which is really hilarious considering I saw Jaws as a young child and have had an irrational fear of sharks ever since. Here I was, fully confident I could beat the shark on my own, and before I could have the satisfaction of victory, I woke up with the knowledge that the battle was rigged in my favor to begin with.

Talk about a let down.

And yet not.

I've had some battles in my life over the past few years. Things I've been praying about. Things I've desired with all my heart. Things I have been fighting for. Things I have spent hours crying over.

Today, God showed me how, in so many little ways, He's already given them to me. I've been fighting and delivering blows in battles He's already won on my behalf. None of them have been the big, here's your shark, find a taxidermist and mount it on your wall victory. But wow... as I look back at all the tiny little things, God has given me some really cool victories. Tonight, as I sat in church, hearing Him whisper, it was like He was recounting all the lovely things I've received lately, and saying, "see, this is how much I love you. I delight in you. I want these things for you, not because you deserve them, or because you've earned them, but because you're mine."

I don't have to fight the sharks for God to give me the victories I desire. The sharks aren't going to hurt me because they're not real. When I see a shark, I think Jaws. But that's not always what they are. First off, whatever the battle is, the final battle has already been won, so why am I fighting so hard? It doesn't matter. God's already got my trophy mounted on His wall. And as for everything else, rather than worrying about what I am or am not equipped to do, I need to remember that He's already equipped us with everything we need. If He's sending us to fight sharks, then yes, the power of our foot smack dab in the middle of the snout is going to be big enough to send Jaws running.

OR

I just had a weird but cool and creepy dream that happened to coincide with the fact that God revealed a lot of cool things He's been doing in my life and because I haven't been all that creative lately, I combined the two to make what is probably my strangest blog post yet.

Whatever. But I hope that somehow, you find a little blessing in my shark dream. Even if it's as simple as knowing you're not as nuts as I am.