For as long as I can remember, I have been a vivid dreamer. I’m still creeped out by the mouse in the Nutcracker because of the flock of lifesize mice that came out of my closet and surrounded my childhood bed causing me to jump over the railing that prevented me from rolling on the floor in the middle of the night. But, the dream I had the other night took vivid to a whole new level.
Having been kidnapped, knocked out, and starting to come-to as my captor ran his or her fingers up the side of my body, I literally awoke gasping for air with chills covering my entire body. Forcing my eyelids open, I looked around the room only to find my kitty nestled into my side, with his soft, furry head resting on my stomach (as unfortunately my husband was away for business). With a deep and heavy exhale, I pulled myself into the reality where I was safely tucked in bed and out loud said, “whoa.”
Catching my breath, and letting out slow exhales to relax my body and slow my rapid heart rate, I knew I needed to speak truth to fully eradicate the darknesss that forced its way into my bedroom. As quickly as the word “whoa” escaped my mouth I began to speak bits of scripture that came to mind. “I have been given divine power to demolish strongholds, in Jesus name. Through His awesome power, by taking every thought captive to Christ, I can demolish any anxiety, in Jesus name. Through Christ, I am more than a conqueror through Him who gives me strength.” Feeling the darkness being to lift I continued speaking words of truth into the blackness of my bedroom and realized, this is exactly why I need to memorize scripture. Without having to find my bible, or fumble in the night for my phone, I want to be able to speak the truth that I know will conquer all.
When I am struggling with anxiety, and need to challenge myself to change my focus, I want to be able to recall Philippians 4:8-9 -- “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable, - if anything is excellent or praiseworthy – think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me – put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.”
When I am feeling the weight of a heavy dream and I want to blow away the darkness, I want to speak the words of 2 Corinthians 10:4-5 -- “For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.”
When I am feeling sad or discouraged because my arms are still painful after 8 months of struggling with the same issue, I want to be able to speak truth to myself from 2 Corinthians 12:9 -- “ 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesss, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.”
God gave us an irreplaceable tool through His word, but it is our job to put it to use. Memorizing scripture is not easy, but thanks to my creepy dream, I am reminded of how essential it is to more fully experiencing the peace, joy, and freedom of Christ in every moment of life. If I can remember lines from a movie I watched as a kid, or sing along to my favorite Justin Bieber song then I most definitely can handle digging into the Bible and remembering God's word. And I challenge you to do the same.
Starting with verses that contain truths that we struggle with daily, let’s write scripture on our hearts. Whatever we need to do (write a verse on the mirror or a notecard, use it as a lock screen on our phone, or come up with a jingle to drive it into memory), let’s encourage ourselves to know it so well that it flows out of our mouths without hesitation.
I better get working on it. And I hope you will too. I know it will be worth it.