Prayer and Prophetic Dreaming...the panorama

For the last two years, I've been telling the kids at the school where I work they are living out a re-telling of the panoramic history seen from cover to cover in God's Holy Book. I'd say it is for the sake of instructing the angels...Peter speaks of topics that are "things which angels desire to look into..." in 1 Peter 1. And Paul in Ephesians 3 talks about the mystery of the church, "...to the intent that now the manifold wisdom of God might be made known by the church to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places according to the eternal purpose which He accomplished in Christ Jesus, our Lord..." A couple of years ago I stumbled on this idea that angels watch us not only so they might protect us, but also so they might learn more about the God they serve. We are God's sermon illustrations; the resource library stocked by His own hand, and the poetic metaphors in His sonnets. The concept revolutionized my perception of the "why" behind some of those more inscrutable things of life. That being given as an opening postulate, I have done my share of theorizing on what is happening in the place where I work.

Here are a few of the parallels that have already been accomplished:

*When the high school first came into being where I work, the primary discipline system was based on a list of rules and consequences. The idea was that the efficacy of the system would make discipline issues easily resolved.
AND, God recognized a chosen people and gave His law to these people that they might keep it in covenant with Him.
*By mid-year, so many students had such extensive files of infractions that daily visits to the detention hall and weekly stints in Saturday school still would not suffice to cover the full penalty they owed. Therefore, the principal (a man I then began to see as the Christ-figure in the scenario of our school) on a single day in a chapel service, completely wiped the slate clean of all infractions for all students, stunning them all. He also established a new covenant with them, one in which any future infractions would still be examined against the school's discipline policies, which did not change, however the penalties assigned for these infractions would be mutually examined by student, teacher and principal. Relationship would play a new part in governing the particular penalty assigned for such discipline issues, and growth would be more feasible.
AND--God, in recognition of the fact that the law gave people awareness of their sin but did not provide them with an escape from its penalties, as their inability to operate under the system of the law left them with too great a debt, provided salvation through His son, Jesus Christ,who in the singular and stunning act of dying upon the cross, became an instrument of grace and redemption. Thereafter, relationship with Him developed a person's freedom for discipleship and gave access to eternal life to every person who would accept that relationship.

*The high school entered its second year, and as it did so, the student body became adamant about their desire for student government. Student-led prayer groups sprang up and student-to-student tutoring became more prominent. Also, a new teacher joined the staff who had strong roots in the pentecostal church, a strong background in Christian education and was also a local pastor.
AND--God sent the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. Likewise, the church began to grow into its role as joint heirs with Christ, receiving the commission to do "even greater things" than He had done in His days walking the earth as a man.

*The school occupies a large wooded campus. The high school was at first housed across campus from the elementary school, with a large pond between. Due to the blessing of a building program that expanded the initial school facility, the high school could join the side of campus that had first served as school property and that houses the school's sponsoring church home. One fine spring day, the student body carried everything across to the joint facility, and everyone thereafter was schooled on the same side of campus. No more remote classes and long walks across campus in foul weather for the high school students, those representing the people of God. This happened right near the end of the second year of existence for this high school.
AND--God said through Paul that one day both the branches grafted in and the original branches that were were cut out, all these would one day come together, and the union would be glorious, and a blessing to both Jews and Gentiles. Ezekiel, too, spoke of how the two houses of Judah and Joseph would combine and be as one house--an alliance between God's peoples. And I wondered if our small metaphor-story weren't moving into territory that represented days that are yet to come in the larger world picture? That we were stopped in our move by a tardy visit from a fire department building inspector--that we were allowed to equip the rooms but not inhabit them...all this seemed to be "instructive" in nature.

Now we walk the third year of the high school's life, and we move even deeper into the domain of that which has not yet happened:
*The high school principal, due to extenuating circumstances, had to move his residency onto campus for a while, occupying a house on the grounds.
AND--Christ says He will return again and be with His people.
*For a good three weeks this fall, a small tree, recently landscaped into the area just outside the school's back door, was a curiosity. Its leaves died away early, but did not fall off. One leaf, however, remained a bright emerald green. One leaf, alone at the tip of the bottom branch.
*AND--God said there would be an era when an apostate church would be widespread, but a remnant would be preserved.

Here the clear parallels break down. And we enter the arena of those things which have not yet happened in either domain: neither on our campus nor in the global sense, I have one thought that haunts me, and has ever since I first began "seeing" this panoramic retelling of God's history with His people. Two years ago I had a dream in which I made a trek around Alaska. At about 4 pm on the clock dial (that is as if the map of the state were the face of a clock) trouble hit the school. One student fell and when he hit the ground, his head exploded and so did his hand. The rest of the student body was paralyzed with shock at this boy's injury, and my husband and I ran up to begin CPR and to call 911. Now this winter, a young man decided to tell the students a story about the false god Dagon. In OT Bible stories, the Ark of the Covenant was stolen from the Hebrews by the Philistines. They decided to set it up in their own temple in company with their own god, Dagon. Over the course of a couple of nights, the statue of Dagon was found to have fallen over, with its head and hands broken off. Just after hearing this statue story told to them, the students in that chapel were reminded that at the end of the story when the Jews got the Ark back, they built a monument to God, raised their Ebenezer of recognition that God was their help. Then these chapel kids were given the opportunity to use Lego's to raise their own Ebenezer. Some chose to and some didn't, but the comment most adult teachers made was that the junior high kids were the first to go up and build. I remembered the verses that speak of children leading, of truth being revealed to babes...and the younger ones taking the initiative made the Ebenezer in the era of the apostate seem like this panoramic story is still unfolding, although very little of it is now so easily recognizable.

*One last thing. I recently felt the urge to go to the high school principal and pray that his prayer life where it related to the school would be consecrated by God. Like in the story of Joshua's battle against the Amalekites,which went well as long as Moses, hidden from them up on a high hill, stood with his hands lifted in dependence on God, of similar effect would be this Principal's prayer life. Though no one might know his prayers' content, structure, or purpose, I believed those prayers he would raise in his prayer closet would make a large difference in the days ahead for our school. Now as I think about Christ, our Mediator, who is absent from us but seated at the right hand of the Father, I see now why it is significant how this Principal's private prayer life is, in itself, a thing instructive and appropriately significant, particularly when his prayers are lifted in an intercessory mode.

As for the one part of the dream that had not yet come clear, I may finally have an idea why the dream was set in Alaska. It was a last puzzle piece that made no sense. I talked about it once with P. (the man I described as representative of the Holy Spirit in our school's story) when he asked me, "Do you think that was it?" and this said regarding a troubling situation with a student about a year ago. I said, "No, I don't think it is finished yet. I never learned what the Alaska part was all about. And usually something undefined represents a timing issue. I don't "see" the reason for something because it is not yet time to look for the actual events. But a connection will "appear" when the time really does draw near." Such a thing has now happened.

Recently, a movie came out called, Juno. The movie is about teenage pregnancy, and Juneau (different spelling but same sound) is the capital of Alaska. So now I ponder and I pray. Are we looking at the possibility of a teenage pregnancy at our school? It would certainly be enough to stop the other students, stunned, in their tracks. Also, I suddenly remembered that the first time I ever heard P. speak in chapel he raised dry statistics about the frequency and prevalence of teenage sin. To give it a little more substance/make it more real...he said, "That means, one of you (sweeping his hand across his view of the room) will be pregnant before you graduate. And we'll still be here for you." At the time, I thought it was simply a reality-check intended to keep them engaged. Now I wonder if it was more than that. Tomorrow, the kids will have a chapel service that puts a guest speaker from the Crisis Pregnancy Center in front of them. Though it has been a year and a half since he talked of pregnancy to them during that chapel, I believe it is nevertheless also him, P., who arranged for this visit by a guest speaker from the CPC. It would be in keeping with his role as Holy Spirit--first announcing the truth, later making resources available for navigating the trials of life associated with that truth. And that the prayer-cover of the the Christ-figure here might need to increase in its intercessory sensitivity, well this too is perfectly logical.

Of course, I can't label any of this last bit factual. But, I've watched it happen before: these elusive threads weaving together to become "facts" in this world. I'm quickened enough in my spirit that I'm certainly going to pray for that chapel service. And I'm going to thank God, for what a wonder it is that He would choose, in His sovereign wisdom, to allow us the corporate honor of being His story-tellers in conveying yet again, the Word of truth and life!