"He's Not There!"

 This morning, as I was doing chores, I was reminded of a dream I had many years ago. A dream so poignant and so prophetic - as vivid and clear to me today as it was that morning 16 years ago. Allow me to share with you my dream.

It occurred about this time in the Spring of 1996, just before Passover, and 6 months before my husband Ed would be diagnosed with terminal cancer at 36 years of age. Little did I know what lay ahead and how significant this dream would be.

I dreamed that I was on the phone with a dear friend, a spiritual leader in the Congregation I was attending - a man very solid and balanced in his convictions and beliefs. He had called to offer condolences and express his sympathy for the battle I was facing. In my dream I had some type of malady - severe, constant pain, and it was known that I was in great anguish.
   "Marcy," he said, "I am so sorry. I wish there was something I could do. I am so sorry that you have to go through this."
  I responded, "It's ok Michael, He's not there."
Again Michael expressed his sympathy and again I repeated, "It's alright, He's not there!"
He didn't get it.
  "It's empty." I insisted. "He's not there. The TOMB, Michael, the tomb is empty - He's not there!"
And in this dream my friend Michael just didn't understand what I was trying to convey, so finally I said to him,
   "Michael, even if I have to endure this pain for the rest of my life, it's just a 'snap' compared to what eternity will be like."

And that was it. I woke up. I brushed this dream off as being just a cool, spiritual dream before Passover, but it wasn't until later, while we battled cancer that I understood the significance of my dream. It was then that I knew that this dream had been given to me beforehand to begin to prepare me for what was ahead.

It was the affirmation that there is no situation we go through that God hasn't been there already. There is no circumstance that catches Him unaware. There is no battlefield that we walk through alone, there is no burden we carry, no sentence we face that God cannot shoulder. There is no grave that can hold Him and consequently, because He lives so shall we.
This was His promise of hope and victory. There is no pain we cannot endure because He's not there. The grave is empty.  He's alive.

I've been reminded of this dream many times in the past 16 years. I've gained strength  and comfort from the knowledge that God walked with me through every trial and every tear of that two year ordeal. That HE was with me long before it even began.

This Passover season may you be filled with the assurance of knowing that the tomb is empty - and all the hope, victory and power that this knowledge entails.

My husband Ed died on Easter Sunday - RESURRECTION SUNDAY two years later.

He lives with Jesus for eternity.