A Heavenly "I Love You"
When considering the ways the Lord communicates, perhaps your mind flashes to the Garden of Eden in which the Lord directly speaks with Adam and Eve. Or, perhaps you think of the dramatic scene of Exodus 14 in which He parts the Red Sea for the Israelites. More often than not, God breathes truth to us in quieter, less dramatic ways. The words may jump off the page while reading through a particular passage of scripture. The Lord may use the comments of a wise friend to gently answer a prayer request or point us in the right direction. The following is an account of a sweet way the Lord reassured our family of His faithfulness and love.
Last summer, we were still recovering from the death of our two-year-old, Sammi. We invited a few family friends over so that we could all pray together. While the kids ran around outside (don’t worry, someone was watching them) we prayed for our family and over our home. We went room by room and prayed for God’s presence to saturate everything in and around our home. We didn’t tell the kids what was going on, other than the detail that we were praying.
A few days later, our four-year-old came running down the stairs after an afternoon nap and told us that she had a “special dream.” Katie excitedly shared that in her dream, she stood in the backyard as butterflies flew around her. When she went inside the house, she saw hearts colored with crayon all over the walls. As she went in to the living room, she saw Sammi coloring hearts on the wall, right next to Jesus! As she walked from room to room, she saw angels drawing hearts all over the walls. When she went up to her room, she saw hearts covering her walls and Sammi placing a rainbow over her bed. She mentioned that this rainbow was special, because Jesus had to lift Sammi up to place the rainbow over Katie’s bed.
Understanding a heavenly “I love you”
In life, we strive to filter everything through the gospel and critically analyze the circumstances to ensure that we are attributing the right things to the right people. We ask questions like “Does this fit with the way the Bible describes the Lord?” and “Is this within the character of the Lord to act in this way?” As with my dream in the hospital, we take everything with a grain of salt and consider whether external factors could be influencing our perceptions. So, could this have been a sweet dream of a comfort-seeking four-year-old and nothing more? Absolutely. Praise God for sweet dreams! But, could this also be a heavenly “I love you” to remind us how we are still loved and remembered? Could this be a sweet gift, communicated through the dream of a child? In a season of salty tears, I don’t see why not! A well-timed dream full of hope certainly lifted our eyes from the valley and set our eyes towards the eternal. We rejoiced either way.
To be completely clear, we do not believe that this dream was Sammi “speaking from the beyond.” Similarly, we do not believe that this dream is an invitation to chase the supernatural or participate in occult activities. We receive this dream as an encouragement to continue pursuing Him and as a reassurance that He is with us in our circumstances. We are also incredibly thankful for the way His message was communicated; Katie was able to experience the closeness and comfort of God at an age-appropriate level. What a sweet gift!
Listen for His voice
As we navigate the monotony of the “normal” day, I wonder if we are listening for His voice. I wonder if we dismiss and discredit the heavenly “I love you” messages we receive. As Jesus neared the end of His earthly ministry, He used a parable to describe His relationship with His believers. In John 10:27-28, Jesus shares:
“My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.”
I pray that with each passing we day, we would know the sound of our shepherd’s voice and discern His words from the other distractions.
How has the Lord sent you heavenly “I love you” messages lately? As you look at your day today, how has the Lord told you He loves you (sunny skies, blooming flowers, etc?)
