Living With a Black Dog

Last night I was reading Matthew 1 & 2. I decided to underline each time God spoke to someone through a dream.. I was amazed at just how much He did this.. almost every time someone received a prophesy or warning from God it was through a dream. I have heard before that the most common form of communication from God in the bible is through dreams.

I have always been a dreamer and have learnt a lot about myself through my dreams.. and I sometimes surprise myself with the 'wisdom' that I seem to have when Im dreaming..

This morning I woke up preaching to myself.. it was such a strange thing. I remember the words clearly. I wondered if I was just saying to myself what I knew was 'right'.. but then I realised that the words I was hearing were new to me, a new outlook on the situation, and not one that I think I could have come up with myself. Interesting...

I dreamt about a book I read a long time ago when I was struggling to relate to a girl I know who has depression. I got to the point where I had no idea what to do because I had never experienced depression at that stage and I had no clue what she was going through. I read this book called 'living with a black dog'.. it is a fantastic picture book that gives the reader some insight into living with depression.

Anyway, I was dreaming about this book, and then a dude came in the room dressed in a strange coloured jacket. Everyone looked at him thinking 'what the heck is he wearing? why would he choose to dress in those colours?'... I still cant quite describe the colour.. it was pretty strange.. yellow but green but pink.. and a bit blue as well. strange... but beautiful.

Anyway.. this dude was wearing his jacket with pride.. and he looked strange, but he also looked like the most confident dude in the room. He got up in my face and said 'It is time to change your colour. It is time to paint a new picture. It is time to experiment with the pallet and mix up your own, your very own colour. A colour that doesn't define you, but separates you. Your colour has faded. It is your time now... to show that black dog just how colourful your clothing is.. your faith is not plain and faded, but your colour is.. why? your faith is vibrant and individual to you... my faith wont work for you, my colour wont work for you, you have your own spirit and you also have your own colour.."

My feelings about this dream probably sum up what it means to me.. basically, I have issues wearing colours.. because it draws attention to me.. it makes me more noticeable.. but if I just wear black or grey I can kind of blend in.. and lately I have been thinking about my faith and how 'visible' it is in my life. If people think I am hardcore for Jesus will they shut me out in fear of me being one of the annoying stereotypical christians? Faith can be like clothing I guess.. we can wear our faith so bright and colourful that everyone knows about it, or we can blend in to the crowd and no one really knows the difference. I am a victim of blending. I don't think it is a bad thing.. because it is a fact that people are generally scared of talking to people who have their faith on display.. generally speaking.. but... I also want my friends to know that I have my faith, so they might begin to drop their stereotypical view of Christianity. Hmm.. I think I might be blabbing on to try and get my point across, hopefully you get what I'm saying here.

So in my dream.. there was a room full of christians, all wearing their colours that were 'suitable' to the culture.. they all fit in.. except for the dude with the strange jacket.. he stood out.. he didnt fit in.. people were interested in his life, in his colour... It was an intriguing colour.. it made him stand out.. but not in a bad way.. it is so hard to explain the feeling I felt when he walked in the room.. it was beautiful, it was a relief, he was amazing. It was almost inspiring seeing him in his colour.. and then he went on to tell me that his colour was his faith.. wow...

I don't think I need to conclude.. you can take from this what you like..

I am inspired..