I dream about houses a lot, unfamiliar places, small, dark and shabby. In the dreams I am desperately sad and yearning for a great treasure that I’ve lost.
As the dream continues, though, and I begin a walkthrough, I find that there is more to my “house” than I knew. Room opens onto room, windows open onto beautiful views. My “house” is full of surprise, delight, and possibility.
They say everyone has “house dreams,” representing our self, personality and experience. I find it interesting that my “house” is always a terrible disappointment, until I take time to see it as it is. For me, I think, the message of those dreams is this:
Real Life is greater than we see or know or imagine.
C. S. Lewis said, “The fact that our heart yearns for something Earth can’t supply is proof that Heaven must be our home.” Maybe that’s why my “dream” house, at first glance, always falls short.
For years I’ve fantasized about a group home, where all the people I love are gathered into one building, sharing life and space, taking care of each other. That seems an impossible illusion these days. But Jesus promised exactly that arrangement when He said, “In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.” John 14:1-3 King James Version (KJV)
“A place for you.” Not just any place, but one specifically created for you. Perfectly suited for you. As if there was only you. Not a dream but a reality. With all the people we love together. Forever.
So I wait, believing that, in the “house” I inhabit right now,
“Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life:
Because I know that He will come for me when my place is ready,
and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.”
Psalm 23:5-6 King James Version (KJV)