A Royal Graduation
June 8, 2020 6:12 PM
Averine Pennington
Dream received by Averine Pennington, June 7, 2020
My dear brothers and sisters in Christ, let me start this post by saying I never intended to share this. In fact, I thought it was just a crazy dream that came from my own sub-conscience and was probably not of the Lord. I didn’t even bother to write down the details as I usually do upon awakening because I didn’t feel it had any significance. Wow, was I so wrong!
This morning, I read the post entitled “Awake Deborah’s” by Sarah Aldrich. I truly could not control my emotions and began crying uncontrollably. You see, this was a puzzle piece that I believe God intended just for me. It was the KEY that brought into harmony everything the Lord has been trying to show me and I was just too dense to put it all together.
I will now do my best to share what I remember of the dream. I wish I had written it down but here are the highlights that pertain to Sarah’s message about Deborah:
I was dressed in a very nice outfit and wearing my best high heel shoes, which I hate and only wear for weddings or other formal occasions. It seemed that I was the coordinator of this special event. The venue was an immense, ornately decorated ballroom with bleacher type seating all around the perimeter to provide seating for the invited guests. It was a graduation ceremony, but not just any graduation. It was a Royal Graduation! There were hundreds of graduates, all children of royalty who were very excited. Their ages seemed to be from teenagers through early 20s. I was moving among the group, busying myself by helping each graduate look their best . . . straightening the young men’s ties, fixing the young ladies dresses and making sure every curl was in place . . . solving any last minute problems. The graduates treated me with such honor, respect and love that I thought perhaps I may have been their teacher. As the ceremony began, I moved to a seat in the bleachers so I might observe with pride as each of the graduates received their awards.
After the awards ceremony, everyone was being ushered into a banquet hall for a very formal dinner. By this point, my feet were killing me as I seldom wear heels. Luckily, I had brought a pair of flats to change into. I began looking in my ‘everything bag’ for my other shoes. I was sort of in a corner taking off the heels. I almost lost my balance trying to remove the high heels, but unexpectedly, several hands reached out to steady me. When I looked around me, I found myself surrounded by the graduates. It was as if they were waiting for me to pull something out of my bag. I reached inside to pull out my shoes, but the shoes I pulled out did not belong to me. One of the graduates grabbed them, thanked me, and went on their way. This exercise went on for some time until I had pulled comfortable shoes out of my ‘everything bag’ for every graduate. (Don’t ask me how that happened, it was truly a miracle because the bag was small.) At last, I found my own comfortable shoes and proceeded to the banquet.
When the event seemed to be concluding and everyone started exiting, I found myself surrounded by a large group of children, perhaps elementary or middle-school age. I knew them to be the brothers and sisters of the graduates. They were all following me and holding onto my clothing and blocking me from even walking forward. I was hemmed in on every side. Their affection for me was overwhelming. I don’t think I’ve ever felt more loved. I remember saying to myself in the dream, “What did I do to deserve all this.” That’s how the dream ended.
Now, as I mentioned in the beginning, Sarah’s post shed a lot of light on this dream for me. For you to understand the puzzle pieces that have come together, I will need to share a few personal things about myself. Earlier this past week, the Lord led me to Isaiah 54 (please read the entire chapter if you have the time). I won’t type the whole thing here, but when I was studying it, I also wept. You see, I am a barren woman. God did not see fit for me to bear children. After nine years of marriage and no children, my husband and I decided to adopt. We have raised two wonderful children that God blessed us with, a daughter and a son who are now grown. We also have been blessed with two beautiful granddaughters. God is so good! It had been a long time since I had even given a second thought to the fact that I was barren, until I read Isaiah 54. I confess, it stirred some long dormant emotional wounds. But the more I let the scriptures sink into the depths of my soul, I realized God was speaking of a much deeper meaning.
I believe this entire chapter is written to the bride of Christ! Here are a few excerpts: vs. 5 . . . “For thy Maker is thine husband; the Lord of hosts is his name; and thy Redeemer the Holy One of Israel; The God of the whole earth shall he be called.” Vs. 11 & 12 describe what the bride looks like. It reminds me of Rev. 21 where John talks of the new Jerusalem coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. Vs. 13 & 14, “And all thy children shall be taught of the Lord; and great shall be the peace of thy children. In righteousness shalt thou be established: thou shalt not fear: and from terror; for it shall not come near thee (sounds like Ps. 91). This is also the chapter where we find “No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is of me, saith the Lord” (vs. 17). That is the clincher. This promise is not to everyone, only to the servants of the Lord whose righteousness is of Him.
But my favorite is vs. 2 which says, “Enlarge the place of thy tent, and let them stretch forth the curtains of thine habitation: spare not, lengthen thy cords, and strengthen thy stakes.” It would be appropriate here for me to share a little of my testimony. My husband and I have worked in the past with youth and college aged students. We have invested over 20 years of our lives in teaching and ministering and loving and pouring our hearts into the lives of hundreds of young people. We finally stepped aside from this ministry as we got too old to keep up with them. Ha! Those students are grown now with families of their own. We still stay in touch with many of them and some have even gone into the ministry. So many wonderful memories of having our house full of young people and all that goes along with Bible studies and food and fellowship and activities. There was never a dull moment. As a barren woman, I can truly testify that I have been so blessed with many, many wonderful children. These are not only my spiritual children, but they are God’s precious children. They are ROYALTY! I believe what God allowed me to witness in my dream was their graduation . . . his way of letting me know that my life has had a greater purpose for His kingdom. And the shoes they were all waiting to receive from me . . . I interpret that to mean that was the Lord’s way of sending them out into the world to continue reaching others for His kingdom. They were being commissioned to go forth and share the gospel with the next generation. The seeds we sowed into their lives would bear much fruit.
In the last ten years, I have had two different people on two separate occasions prophesy over me. The Lord said that during the ending of my life, I will do greater things for the kingdom of God than I had previously done up to that point. I am not getting any younger and I have wondered if God had forgotten about that. But about a year ago, God awakened me in the middle of the night and told me, “To whom much is given, much will be required.” I believe this was God’s call to those ‘greater works’. Since that time, I have not been the same person. His refining process has been painful but at the same time wonderful! He has awakened me from my slumber and set my heart on fire to be about my Father’s business. Time is so short! We must do all we can to reach His lost sheep before it is too late.
In the dream, I finally found my ‘walking shoes’ and put them on. Then, at the very end, I was surrounded by a group of younger children who were vying for my attention. I’m not exactly sure what that means, except that God is not finished with me yet. It reminds me of what the angel said to John after he had eaten the little book in Rev. 10:11, “. . . Thou must prophecy again before many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings.”
We are now in the end of days. When God’s people come against the enemy (Satan) in the end times, God’s Word says we will overcome by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of our testimony; and we will not love our lives unto death. I have thought about that a lot lately. I am ready to lay down my life for His name’s sake if that should be required of me, but I want to have a strong testimony with which to overcome the enemy. My testimony is not of some dynamic transformation as many others are. I was saved when I was 6 years old so I really cannot remember NOT having the Lord in my life. He has always been with me, every step of the way. I have lived somewhat insulated from the world in my warm, comfortable cocoon of Christianity, surrounded for the most part with people of like faith. I am so grateful for God’s grace and mercy in keeping me safe and protected from much of the evil in this world. I just don’t want to be so naïve that God cannot use me as His warrior. I may not be battle hardened as I’m sure some of God’s end-time army will be, but I will fight to my last breath for my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. I am convinced that He will equip me for the battle ahead. I am AWAKE and I am prepared to be a DEBORAH!
Thank you, my dear sister Sarah, for sharing the wonderful Word that God gave to you. May you be richly blessed.
Yours for the Harvest,
Averine
[pdf-embedder url=”https://444prophecynews.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/A_Royal_Graduation1.pdf” title=”A_Royal_Graduation(1)”]
