Rooms - James L. Rubart [77]
The tears came again. Of joy. Of freedom.
The bars had been broken, the treasure of the Kingdom released.
He had to talk to himself about the freedom. Micah let out a whoop and raced toward the room that contained his voice.
CHAPTER 29
As Micah opened the door to the room, the voice spoke. “Hey, buddy, I was hoping you’d come to debrief. That was quite a ride.”
“Unbelievable.”
“From the beginning. All the details.”
“But you know all the details. You, we, were there together.” Micah laughed. “Why hear it again?”
“Because this way I can just soak it in and not have to think about it. And after it’s spoken aloud, we’ll both know it and remember it better.”
So Micah told the story about the door, the dream, the healing of the wounds, the waking up and discovering it was all real. How mountains of chains had been conquered, demolished in his heart.
After he finished, the voice stayed silent for a long time. When it spoke, it was just above a murmur, the tone tentative. “I have a thought. Something I think we should consider.”
Micah was taken off guard. He expected excitement, joy, even laughter as they celebrated together. Instead he sensed discouragement and even a hint of desperation in the voice.
“We must be exceedingly careful with these ‘healing-the-wounds’ experiences we had in the Wildcat room and the one last night. Who knows when it might happen again,” the voice said.
“Why wouldn’t we want it to continue till we’re set free of every chain?”
“Maybe we should; maybe we shouldn’t. We have certainly slipped over into an area graciously described as the unknown. An area of confusion and speculation. And even possible deception.”
“What are you talking about? There’s no confusion.” Micah made tiny, involuntary shakes of his head. “I’m freer and more in love with Jesus than I’ve ever been.”
“There are all kinds of dreams, Micah. Most of the time dreams are the subconscious trying to make sense of the conscious world. It’s usually simply the brain processing the events of the day. And sometimes it can even be a dark area where the enemy is trying to deceive us.”
“You’re saying these experiences are deception? No way. God spoke through dreams and used dreams in the Bible—”
“Yes, absolutely true, and I’m not discounting it. But over the thousands of years in which the Bible was written, how many times did God talk to people in dreams? Eight? Nine times? And each time they were major events. I’m not saying God can’t talk to us in dreams. It’s possible even in this day and age. But isn’t it presumptuous to say He spoke to us in a dream when there’s really no proof? Taking dreams at face value without really examining them is inviting a potentially deadly ruse from the enemy.”
“Hold on.” Micah stepped forward. “The day before, I can’t get into the room. Now I can and everything has changed inside. Drastically. You’re saying that’s not genuine?”
“Do you hear what you just said, Micah? The room changed drastically in the dream. You hadn’t been inside it before the dream. The reality is the room has always been the same. The only difference is that before you weren’t able to get in. Now you are. Just because it changed in the dream doesn’t mean it changed for real.”
“But the change inside me is real.”
“I’m not saying there’s been no change. I think our mind did a wonderful thing for us by telling us a story as we slept. But we have to examine what happened in light of the Bible and not in light of our emotions.”
“You’re saying my emotions aren’t valid?” Micah said. “That they aren’t evidence things have changed inside my heart?”
“God is not a God of touchy-feely pop psychology but a God of truth and moral action. We are to be outward focused, not inward focused. This preoccupation with self and self-freedom that has crept into the church is dangerous. The story of life is not about you; it’s about God. And any time we focus our energies on anything other