I had a rather strange dream a few nights ago. I was standing in my open garage and all of a sudden a large green van appeared from the side yard onto the driveway, as if the street were from the side of the front of the garage instead of the street. The van trembled a bit as if it had stopped abruptly in front of the garage. Some woman with dark hair got out of the drivers side and was hurriedly making her way to the other side where I was, but beforeshe got to me, I got this strange word in my mind. The word was "Heliopathy" and the dream abruptly ended like it had begun.

The dream did not make sense, I wondered afterwards what heliopathy was, because it was a term unfamiliar to me. I wrote it down to look it up later since it was about 3:30 in the morning. When I finally did look it up I found that it had something to do with the healing qualities of the sun and that the sun was as essential to our livelihood as anything that nature, or I should say God, has gifted us with all our lives.

Some people may say that God does not give us anything. These people have deluded themselves into thinking that if they do not get an immediate answer to prayer, that there must be something wrong with them that God would ignore their plea and just go about His business righting wrongs in the universe.

But yet instead of praying more or trying to find the answers in nature, such as the sun, these people wander around aimlessly in life trying to find the solutions that may be right in front of them in the first place.

We often take nature for granted. We may not ever think that nature, in and of itself, is the answer to some of our problems. Sometimes we may even get a little testy towards nature when the signs are not clear to us as to the solution to problems in our lives. But yet we go along thinking that God has left us, not realizing that He is always there, probably wishing He had a good frying pan to hit us upside the head with and the say, "Hey, wake up fool!"

Luke 1:63-64 He motioned for a piece of paper and to everyone's surprise wrote, "His name is John!" 64 Instantly Zacharias could speak again, and he began praising God. TLB

I will never forget an incident that happened to me some time ago. It was one of those times that will be on my brain forever like indelible ink. Many years ago I worked as an accounts receivable clerk for a chemical company and I had to make one of the many daily check deposits at the local bank. It had been one of those many days in California where the day was blanketed by a gray overcast, and the early morning weather report had forecasted rain. The forecast for rain had been like that every day for a while, but yet every day, nary a cloud had decided to blanket the world with it's dew.

On the way to the bank, I looked up briefly at the grayness, and said, "It is not going to rain, in fact, clouds, I dare you to rain down on me. Better yet, I double dog dare you to rain down on me." Then I laughed at a mere drop on my windshield, not really knowing if it had been a drop of rain or another small bug who gave it's life to adorn my glass as if it had a need to be there.

When I got to the bank, I parked in the bank parking lot about forty feet from the door. I got out of my car and made my way to the door looking up and laughing. I entered and waited in line briefly, made the deposit and was on my way to leave the bank and go back to work. I nonchalantly exited the bank and was inundated with a massive blanket of rain that literally soaked me to the bone as I hurriedly made my way to the car door, fumbled for my keys and opened the door. I rushed into the car as if the rain were made up of ten thousand dimes that had made their way out of the bank, into the sky and then fell on me.

Ezekiel 47:6-7 He told me to keep in mind what I had seen, then led me back along the bank. 7 And now, to my surprise, many trees were growing on both sides of the river! TLB

I was so surprised by the onslaught of water, that I laughed at this coincidence. It was as if mother nature, or God, was giving me an answer for my dares. The message was loud an clear, "Do not fool with mother nature."

So you see, God can react to us in the simplest ways, and also the most obvious ways. But yet sometimes no matter how obvious is His reply, we may still not get the point. We are so busy trying to make a living for ourselves and our families that we fall way short of the expectations that God has for us.

Sometimes we have these walls in front of us that we have constructed to protect ourselves, not realizing that the wall is keeping us from experiencing that which we need to experience. We get so caught up in life, that we do not really live it. We see others who have "made it" and we wish we could be like them, so we study their character and accomplishments and try to emulate them without realizing that maybe God has a better plan for our lives.

When you get to this point, don't forget about God. He is there on the sidelines waiting for you to come to Him. Give Him some attention. Ask Him to guide you in you daily decision-making process and let Him into your life and your personal world.

You will be glad you did.

Prayer: Thank you Lord, for all the answers to prayer that you have given me. Help me in this coming week to seek your guidance as often as possible. Help me to realize that the answers to my most pressing questions in life are out there and that if I spend time with you in prayer, that you will help me understand more and more. I thank you for all your many blessings. Amen.

Benediction: Now, Lord, Bless us in our daily lives. Help us to smell the roses whenever possible, to shine our light on those less fortunate than us, and lead us in the path we should go. For you are the light that keeps our path well lit. Help us to follow it, until we meet you, in a land where milk and honey abound, a place where our most wonderful dreams are fulfilled. Amen.

Hi, my name is Bryan, a messenger of hope who would love to hear from you. God Bless.

© 2005 Bryan Hill