The Pink Elephant Dream
In 1981, I had been saved for about a year when I had this vivid, perplexing dream. Sitting at my small desk at work, there was a cute little pink elephant wearing round eye-glasses walking around on the desk top. She was about 7 inches long trunk to tail and stood about 5 or 6 inches tall. Tiny! And sooo cute! She had big eyes, and the round glasses made them look even bigger.
She walked back and forth aimlessly on top of my desk. It wasn't clear why she was there or where she was going. She seemed happy just to be walking around.
Then an obstacle appeared in front of her as though it rose up out of the desk. She stopped and looked as if she wondered what to do. I could tell she was frustrated by this obstacle. She tried to go around it and couldn't. She tried to jump over it and couldn't.
I could tell she was getting really frustrated and didn't know what else to do, but she wasn't putting up much of a fight either. So instead, she backed off and walked with her head hanging down over to the edge of the desk between the desk and the wall and stepped off, wedging herself there with her feet dangling in mid-air. Tears filled her large eyes and spilled over. She didn't know what to do about this obstacle. Watching this broke my heart. I wanted to help her.
After a few tears and much worry, she wriggled herself back up on the desk and began walking again, same as before, here and there, no obstacle in sight.
Again the obstacle arose from the desk in front of her as she walked. And again she stopped, frustrated and saddened that it reappeared, not knowing what to do. Then once again she walked over to the edge of the desk and stepped off, wedging herself between the wall and the desk with her feet dangling in mid air, tears filling her eyes and much sadness filling her heart.
Each time this happened it broke my heart! I wanted so badly to help her and could easily do so being so much bigger than she was.
The same scene happened again, start to finish. I had a feeling this would go on forever but at some point the dream ended and I awoke. As I thought about this dream I realized what this little elephant was doing was very familiar to me.
The pink elephant was me, and this was how I handled any problem for which I saw no answer. I would run and hide. The Lord showed me that this was breaking His heart watching my response. He wanted me to stop doing this, turn to Him any time an obstacle appears, and let Him help me.
It's almost been 40 years since that simple, profound, precious dream, and I still remember it.
Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time, casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you.
1Peter 5:6,7
She walked back and forth aimlessly on top of my desk. It wasn't clear why she was there or where she was going. She seemed happy just to be walking around.
Then an obstacle appeared in front of her as though it rose up out of the desk. She stopped and looked as if she wondered what to do. I could tell she was frustrated by this obstacle. She tried to go around it and couldn't. She tried to jump over it and couldn't.
I could tell she was getting really frustrated and didn't know what else to do, but she wasn't putting up much of a fight either. So instead, she backed off and walked with her head hanging down over to the edge of the desk between the desk and the wall and stepped off, wedging herself there with her feet dangling in mid-air. Tears filled her large eyes and spilled over. She didn't know what to do about this obstacle. Watching this broke my heart. I wanted to help her.
After a few tears and much worry, she wriggled herself back up on the desk and began walking again, same as before, here and there, no obstacle in sight.
Again the obstacle arose from the desk in front of her as she walked. And again she stopped, frustrated and saddened that it reappeared, not knowing what to do. Then once again she walked over to the edge of the desk and stepped off, wedging herself between the wall and the desk with her feet dangling in mid air, tears filling her eyes and much sadness filling her heart.
Each time this happened it broke my heart! I wanted so badly to help her and could easily do so being so much bigger than she was.
The same scene happened again, start to finish. I had a feeling this would go on forever but at some point the dream ended and I awoke. As I thought about this dream I realized what this little elephant was doing was very familiar to me.
The pink elephant was me, and this was how I handled any problem for which I saw no answer. I would run and hide. The Lord showed me that this was breaking His heart watching my response. He wanted me to stop doing this, turn to Him any time an obstacle appears, and let Him help me.
It's almost been 40 years since that simple, profound, precious dream, and I still remember it.
Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time, casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you.
1Peter 5:6,7