My friends

Yesterday, we shared in the comments about what life is like with the risen Jesus.

Two of you said, "He is my constant companion." That's how I would describe it too. In a strange way.

I am curious about the fact that I have only ever dreamt of Jesus twice in my life, and in only one of those dreams was he a person. I dream a lot, and given the amount I think about him, you'd think I'd dream about him more than this.

But it's as if he's too ... Heavenly ... to see. Perhaps a dream about him is a once in a lifetime kinda thing.

In the dream, I didn't recognise him. He was a man with shaggy hair, sitting and listening to me, nodding his head like a nice friend.

My family were far away, over by some rocks on a beach, and I was talking to him about them, pointing over at them, stressed, like 'Rescue them!' He simply nodded empathically. But what he was focused on was a set of two bowls in his hand. They were serving bowls. 

I woke up, and thought to myself, 'That was Jesus!'

Just like the two disciples on the Road to Emmaeus, I didn't see him at first:

Now behold, two of them were traveling that same day to a village called Emmaeus, which was seven miles from Jerusalem. And they talked together of all these things which had happened. So it was, while they conversed and reasoned, that Jesus Himself drew near and went with them. But their eyes were restrained so that they did not know him (Luke 24:16, NKJV).

These two disciples chattered away to Jesus about what was on their mind. He was a nice companion. Then, they turned aside into a home:

Now it came to pass, as He sat at the table with them, that He took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. Then their eyes were opened and they knew Him; and He vanished from their sight (v. 31).

See what I mean - elusive! He vanished!

And they said to one another, "Did not our heart burn within us while He talked with us on the road, and while He opened the Scriptures to us?" (v. 32).

That's the thing. My heart burns when it comes to him. After the dream, my heart burned.

What was he saying through that dream to me? He was saying: "Yes, I know you're stressed about your family, I hear you, but I'm not worried. So trust me. What I'm most interested in is the food you're going to serve to others through all this."

The late evangelist, Nabeel Qureshi, had a special dream of Jesus as he battled terminal cancer in his thirties. It was the same kind of thing: A quirky dream, a friendly encounter, and a message that helped him in a difficult time. You might enjoy the video in which he describes that dream, here.

So what are my reflections? He is a friend to us. He does reveal himself to us. But he also allows himself to stay hidden, or to suddenly vanish out of our grasp. He does listen, and he does speak in our lives, but he lets us get hungry for him. An encounter with him is pretty special, and he is our constant companion.

Phew, that's my turn over. And now I can't wait to read something from Ian about Jesus tomorrow.

Love you all.

Ann