The Season Of Sorrow

Dear Brethren,

Jeremiah 10:12-13, "He has made the earth by His power, He has established the world by His wisdom, and has stretched out the heavens at His discretion.  When He utters His voice, there is a multitude of waters in the heavens: and He causes the vapors to ascend from the ends of the earth.  He makes lightning for the rain, He brings the wind out of His treasuries."

It was May 5, and it had been six years since my grandfather had gone to be with the Lord.  I spent the day with my little brother Daniel, the only other member of the family currently in the US, and we kept the memory of our grandfather alive by remembering.  We remembered him not as Reverend Duduman, or the Romanian man who had dreams, but as what he was to us, simply grandpa.  The man who bounced us on his knee while we were still toddlers, the man who became our instant hero when he stood in the middle of a river on a hot summer's day, and proceeded to catch fish with his bare hands.  It was a good time of bonding for us as brothers, and we both came away with the conclusion that even after all this time, we still missed him a great deal.

That night, after prayer, I went to bed and I had a dream.  I dreamt I was on a very high ridge, with a great valley spanning out beneath me.  The night was calm, the moon and stars shining brightly in the sky.  As I looked around trying to get my bearings, I was stunned to see my grandfather standing next to me.  He looked young and vibrant, his hands in his pockets, and a smile on his face

"Interesting times ahead my boy, interesting times ahead," he said.  For a minute I was so shocked I couldn't say anything.  Finally I blurted out the only thing that came to mind, "They've been interesting ever since you left. Trial after trial, hardship after hardship."

"Now you know how Jesus felt when He walked the earth," he answered, "always doing good, always in the Father's will, yet always mocked and rejected, always misunderstood and despised.   Besides, it was all a test anyway."

"A test of what?"  I asked.

"For you personally, God wanted to see if you would stay true to your calling even when all seemed lost.  He was preparing you and purging you, refining you, for the time when He will use you, and speak to you as He spoke to me."

Before I could say anything he lifted his hand to stop me. His fingers were no longer crooked from his arthritis they were straight, and normal.

"I know what you're going to say my boy, it's not what you want, it's not what you asked for.  But you should know by now it is the task you were chosen for.  In this you have no choice, besides where can you hide from the face of God.  Men have tried before, look how it turned out in the end.  To reject what God has planned for you is to deny God.  You know what the consequences are."

Unable to find the words to answer, I simply nodded my understanding, and allowed him to continue speaking.

"As for why the ministry had to go through what it went through, God has already spoken that to your heart.  You already know the answer.  God wants all that know of this work, to be certain of one thing. It is He who sustains it; it is He who blesses it, and not the hands of men or their gimmicks. Do you think any of it would still be here after all that has happened if not for God?   Never doubt God's promises concerning this work, or His ability to fulfill them.  Hope in God never disappoints, hope in man always leads to disillusionment."

"Now for the reason I am here.  I was sent to show you something.  Look and see," he said, pointing down to the valley below.  As I looked, I saw the outline of a map of America then the outlines of states began taking shape.  As I continued to watch this map solidify, small lights began to flicker on and off in some of the states.  I recognized California, Illinois, Michigan, Arizona, Washington State, Florida, and New York, among the states that lit up.  The light was rhythmic, almost like a homing beacon, constant in its progression.  I continued watching the lights go on and off, waiting for something else to happen, but nothing did. Finally I said, "I don’t understand.  What does this mean?"

"These are the places where those who were sent here long ago, to bring fear and cause chaos, have situated themselves.  They lie in waiting, planning and plotting destruction.  They are as coiled serpents, looking forward to the hour when they will be loosed upon this nation.  If God's children pray, once more he will delay the season of sorrow that is yet to come."

We stood on the ridge in silence for a long time.  After awhile the lights stopped flickering in the valley below, and the map began to fade away.  Suddenly my grandfather turned his head toward the east, and began to sniff the air as he used to do. "Storm's coming my boy, and it's a bad one," he said.  "Now give an old man a hug, and let me be on my way.  Be vigilant and work while you still can, it's all God asks of any of His servants.  If the Father wills it, we will speak again."

As I hugged my grandfather, I began to hear the rumbling of a great storm.  The sky darkened overhead, and the booming of thunder was now audible. In my dream I closed my eyes, and when I opened them again, I was in my bed, awake.  I wiped at my cheeks with the back of my hand, and realized I had been crying.  As my eyes began to adjust to the dark, I saw that my wife was sitting up in bed, staring at me.  When I asked her why she wasn't sleeping, she said I'd been talking in my sleep for over thirty minutes.   I tried going back to sleep but sleep would not come.  Finally I gave up trying, went into the kitchen and prayed until morning.

Over the past few days, I have spent much time in prayer as to whether I should share this dream or not.  I believe that I am supposed to, and this is why I have included it in this issue of the newsletter.  My prayer is that no one would perceive it as a reason for fear, but rather a reason to hope.  God hears the prayers of His children, and as long as He encourages us to pray, we must do so without reservation.  The day will come, a day I anticipate with great dread, when God will speak to His children as he spoke to Jeremiah, and say do not pray for this people, or lift up a cry for them any longer.  For now, while we still can, may we ceaselessly bring our petitions before the Lord.

May the grace of the living Savior abound in you, and may the peace of our risen Lord be ever present in your heart.  As always, your prayers are coveted, and our prayers are with you.

Jeremiah 18:7-10, "The instant I speak concerning a nation and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, to pull down, and to destroy it, if that nation against whom I have spoken turns from its evil, I will relent of the disaster that I thought to bring upon it.  And the instant I speak concerning a nation and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant it, if it does evil in My sight so that it does not obey My voice, then I will relent concerning the good with which I said I would benefit it."

With love in Christ,

Michael Boldea Jr.

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