A's earlier dreams

I realize I haven't written about A's earlier dreams. Isa (Jesus) first came to her in a dream, which seems to be a common way for Muslims to encounter Him. (See here and here and here ).

She had just received word that her cancer had returned, after a year's remission, and she was devestated. A. is such a transparant soul--she wears her emotions so openly. (Shades of Matt. 18:3!) I can imagine how she must have been weeping and unable to be consoled. It was at this point that she dreamed of a Man with a bright face standing before her, reaching out his hand. I can't remember all the details now, but the bottom line was that it made her feel hopeful and curious. Then H's Christian cousin came, and led her to pray at the closest church (which was ours.)

After Steve and I met her, she had another dream. This time A. didn't see the Man's face, only his back, but he was motioning to her to follow him. She knew then is was Isa, and it wasn't long before she was following Him. She was baptized shortly after Easter, 2007.

A. grew impatient when Isa didn't seem to be returning to her dreams. She wondered if He had abandoned her. I spent lots of time explaining that He hadn't, and that she should look for Him to come to her in other ways: through Scripture, worship, prayer and the fellowship of believers. She accepted this, but with a degree of resignation.

A. also became impatient with God, Who didn't seem to be in any hurry to heal her. She had fully expected that once she followed Jesus, He would heal her as a sign to all her friends and family as a sign of His power, and the truth that He is the Son of God. "But I became suspicious," (i.e., doubtful) " she confessed. Every cycle of chemo became more and more difficult. Those same friends and family members in Iran tolerated her new faith, but they were skeptical. A. became so frustrated that she cried out to Jesus, "if you won't heal me, maybe Satan will!"

Then she had another dream, but this one was quite dramatic. Satan came to her, "like a woman with red, red lips," and promised her that he would take away her cancer if she would worship him. The choice was clear: she could either trust Satan or trust Christ. A. was filled with fear, and dreamed that she put a Bible over her head for protection. Pleading with Jesus to forgive her, she told Satan to leave her alone.

"Fine, I will; but I will send you even worse pain!" he threatened.

She awoke, told H. about the dream, and they went back to sleep. A few hours later, A. awoke in excrutiating pain that lasted non-stop for three days. Her oxycontin did nothing to ease it. and H. was at his wit's end, seeing his wife suffer so. Then, as quickly as it had appeared, at the end of those three days it disappeared. A. understands this episode to have been about more than her physical illness. "I feel like I am having the experiences Christians have over many years all compressed," she confided to me. "I was tempted but I did not renounce Jesus. I see I will never do that now."

This was followed many weeks later by another dream: Jesus knocked on the door of their house, and A. opened it and covered His feet with flowers. It was a happy dream; one A. takes to mean that Jesus is also interested in her husband and son. After that her dreams ceased, until this last one about Mary.