Lost His Shirt

Saturday, September 13, 2008, 10:49 a.m. – I have this song in my head:

His Eye Is On The Sparrow / Civilia D. Martin / Charles H. Gabriel

Why should I feel discouraged, why should the shadows come,
Why should my heart be lonely, and long for heaven and home,
When Jesus is my portion? My constant friend is He:
His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me;
His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me.

"Let not your heart be troubled," His tender word I hear,
And resting on His goodness, I lose my doubts and fears;
Though by the path He leadeth, but one step I may see;
His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me;
His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me.

Whenever I am tempted, whenever clouds arise,
When songs give place to sighing, when hope within me dies,
I draw the closer to Him, from care He sets me free;
His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me;
His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me.

I sing because I’m happy,
I sing because I’m free,
For His eye is on the sparrow,
And I know He watches me.

I woke from A DREAM: I was coming back from somewhere when I went to check my roadside mailbox for mail. I opened the mailbox and a hoard of black bugs flew out of the box that was stuffed with mail. I was covered with the bugs so much that I had to remove my shirt.

Then, I went into a store of some kind to get something. A man and his wife were there behind the counter. I apologized for my appearance and explained what happened. The man said those were fleas and that they were everywhere.

This is fuzzy, but somewhere in here I lost or misplaced my purse and/or my car keys, but I must have found them, because now I was getting in my car to drive away. I was wearing a skirt and some square-toed shoes.

There was a sense that this man in the store intended to pursue me and to harm me in some way and then in real life the phone rang and I woke up. END

Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening. I read Jeremiah 15:

Then the LORD said to me: "Even if Moses and Samuel were to stand before me, my heart would not go out to this people. Send them away from my presence! Let them go! 2 And if they ask you, 'Where shall we go?' tell them, 'This is what the LORD says:
" 'Those destined for death, to death;
those for the sword, to the sword;
those for starvation, to starvation;
those for captivity, to captivity.'

3 "I will send four kinds of destroyers against them," declares the LORD, "the sword to kill and the dogs to drag away and the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth to devour and destroy. 4 I will make them abhorrent to all the kingdoms of the earth because of what Manasseh son of Hezekiah king of Judah did in Jerusalem.

5 "Who will have pity on you, O Jerusalem?
Who will mourn for you?
Who will stop to ask how you are?
6 You have rejected me," declares the LORD.
"You keep on backsliding.
So I will lay hands on you and destroy you;
I can no longer show compassion.
7 I will winnow them with a winnowing fork
at the city gates of the land.
I will bring bereavement and destruction on my people,
for they have not changed their ways.

8 I will make their widows more numerous
than the sand of the sea.
At midday I will bring a destroyer
against the mothers of their young men;
suddenly I will bring down on them
anguish and terror.
9 The mother of seven will grow faint
and breathe her last.
Her sun will set while it is still day;
she will be disgraced and humiliated.
I will put the survivors to the sword
before their enemies,"
declares the LORD.

10 Alas, my mother, that you gave me birth,
a man with whom the whole land strives and contends!
I have neither lent nor borrowed,
yet everyone curses me.
11 The LORD said,
"Surely I will deliver you for a good purpose;
surely I will make your enemies plead with you
in times of disaster and times of distress.
12 "Can a man break iron—
iron from the north—or bronze?

13 Your wealth and your treasures
I will give as plunder, without charge,
because of all your sins
throughout your country.
14 I will enslave you to your enemies
in a land you do not know,
for my anger will kindle a fire
that will burn against you."

15 You understand, O LORD;
remember me and care for me.
Avenge me on my persecutors.
You are long-suffering—do not take me away;
think of how I suffer reproach for your sake.

16 When your words came, I ate them;
they were my joy and my heart's delight,
for I bear your name,
O LORD God Almighty.
17 I never sat in the company of revelers,
never made merry with them;
I sat alone because your hand was on me
and you had filled me with indignation.

18 Why is my pain unending
and my wound grievous and incurable?
Will you be to me like a deceptive brook,
like a spring that fails?
19 Therefore this is what the LORD says:
"If you repent, I will restore you
that you may serve me;
if you utter worthy, not worthless, words,
you will be my spokesman.
Let this people turn to you,
but you must not turn to them.

20 I will make you a wall to this people,
a fortified wall of bronze;
they will fight against you
but will not overcome you,
for I am with you
to rescue and save you,"
declares the LORD.
21 "I will save you from the hands of the wicked
and redeem you from the grasp of the cruel."

My (Limited) Understanding: This, too, is about the financial disasters on Wall Street as well as the natural disasters. I see the mailbox filled with mail and fleas as representing someone coming home to destruction of property, flooding, insect infestation, etc. after having been evacuated for a period of time. Tearing off of one’s shirt is a symbol of mourning over one’s loss and/or it could be losing one’s shirt in the stock market and/or other financial investments. And, there will be a sense of shame and disgrace associated with these disasters, too.

But, there is hope for those who look to the Lord as their Savior instead of to man to save them. And, again I see this resulting in the spreading of the gospel once there has been repentance (apology for appearance), because my keys were returned to me (keys of the kingdom), I had on a skirt (priestly garment in preparation for ministry) and I had on my square-toed shoes (feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace) – see: Ephesians 6:10-20.