A Crocodile Under the Bed

I dreamed
A crocodile
Was under the white wrought iron bed
In the children’s room

A crocodile who coughed
Up a clothes hair-ball
From under-the-bed stuffings
Of disorganized boys

“Do you see that?”
I asked, my boy-to-man son,
“Yeah, Mom,
There’s a crocodile
Under the brother’s bed.”

The children, the little ones,
They knew not the danger
Of a crocodile
Under their bed

How do you get rid
Of a crocodile
Under a bed?

Nanny didn’t know.
911 Didn’t know.
My neighbor’s didn’t know
Neither did my exercise instructor
The telephone operator couldn’t even tell me the number
Of the zoo

Nobody knew
What to do
About a crocodile under the bed

What to do!
What to do!

I didn’t want the crocodile to get hungry
And chew
More than
Under-the-bed stuffings
Of my little boys

Then, slapping my hand to my forehead,
I remembered who knew
How to get rid of crocodiles under the bed.

I dropped to my knees,
Fearless, faithful, full of hope and calm
And asked the Father

To forgive me for forgetting
For not coming to Him first

To protect the children
From the crocodile under the bed

To comfort them in the night
As His plan unfolds

To vanquish
This threat to the children
Who live in the room with the white wrought iron bed.

Last week, I really dreamed the crocodile under the boy’s bed, really called on everyone first but God – in this dream – called on people who had no clue about how to help me.

I wondered, after I woke, even after all these years of this faith walk, I wondered 3 things – why I still have to practice calling on God first. It is a skill that needs practice, needs sharpening daily – like playing tennis, running track and even writing. Maybe it’s like all the times I call a son by his brother’s name – I know it – I just get it wrong in life’s distractions.

The second thing I thought about were people who would question my right to take the crocodile under the bed to God – or question God’s “will” to take care of the crocodile under the bed: “If it is your will, God, please get rid of the crocodile threatening my children.”

Yes, God has plans for our lives. Yes, sometimes we need to align our plan with His. However, God’s will always ends in faithfulness to His promises – whether we see them now or later (Hebrews 11). It is vital that we equip ourselves with the knowledge of God’s promises, of what He says He will do for us if we fulfill our part of the covenant relationship (i.e. trying to love Him with all our heart and soul)

The Psalmist tells us God’s will, God’s promises. If there’s a crocodile under your bed or your children’s bed today, grab hold of these verses, plant them deep inside you, live on them.

“I sought the Lord, and he answered me;
he delivered me from all my fears.
Those who look to him are radiant;
their faces are never covered with shame.
This poor man called, and the Lord heard him;
he saved him out of all his troubles.
The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him,
and he delivers them.
Taste and see that the Lord is good;
blessed is the man who takes refuge in him.
Fear the Lord, you his saints,
for those who fear him lack nothing.
The lions [crocodilesl] may grow weak and hungry,
but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing.

  Come, O children, listen to me;
  I will teach you the fear of the LORD.
 What man is there who desires life
   and loves many days, that he may see good?
 Keep your tongue from evil
   and your lips from  speaking deceit.
Turn away from evil and do good;
   seek peace and pursue it.

  The eyes of the LORD are toward the righteous
      and his ears toward their cry.
 The face of the LORD is against those who do evil,
   to cut off the memory of them from the earth.
 When the righteous cry for help, the LORD hears
   and delivers them out of all their troubles.
The LORD is near to  the brokenhearted
   and saves the crushed in spirit.

  Many are the afflictions of the righteous,
    but the LORD delivers him out of them all.
  He keeps all his bones;
    not one of them is broken.
  Affliction will slay the wicked,
   and those who hate the righteous will be condemned.
 The LORD redeems the life of his servants;
   none of those who take refuge in him will be condemned” (Psalm 34: 4-22)

The third thing I pondered on after the dream was what God was trying to tell me. Are my children in danger? Are they being threatened? When God speaks to me in my dreams, it’s a call to prayer, a call to prepare – and having faith that God’s angels are encamped about my family, that we have taken refuge in His kingdom and my children will be delivered from this threat symbolized by the crocodile. Preparing for battle and resting in peace at the same time.

Thank you, Father

that you are faithful to your promises, that you do not leave us defenseless, that you are a God of refuge and protection. I thank you that I am not alone, nor are my children. I thank you that your angels guard us from trouble, delivering from harm. I am thankful that while I do not know what the crocodile under the bed symbolizes, you do – and you have already formulated a plan, enacted when I called out to you.

I pray that you will give us discernment and wisdom when dealing with the crocodiles in our life

I understand that we face troubles Father, but I thank you that we overcome those troubles, that we know the outcome of those troubles, we know the end of the story

I pray that my household seeks and pursues peace, sees good in the journey to the end of the story, that we speak faith of the happy ending, loving our journeymen we share the story with.

 I thank you Father that through your son Jesus I am righteous, though I might falter. I pray that I cry not only for help but for relationship with you.

I also thank you Father for those moments where my heart has broken, that you made it whole again, when I cried for help for me, my husband or my sons, you heard and delivered us from the crocodiles surround us.

I thank you that you have restored my crushed spirit, that you have filled it with your Holy Spirit breath and renewed my strength, my desire to continue onward.

 Thank you that your will is to always be with me, to bring me and mine to your home, that you pursue us, even when we miss it

That you will take care of the crocodile under the bed.

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