The Sinking Ship
THE SINKING SHIP - A Dream
by Jack Ely
I had this dream a good many years ago. Recent talk about the Titanic brought it to mind so I thought I would share it. I was aboard a ship with my family. It was some sort of "Christian Cruise" or something. All about the deck were families of Christians and the atmosphere was one of merriment and socializing, kind of like a Church PICNIC.
The ship was slowly sinking and this was not hidden from anyone for all knew it to be absolutely true. As we socialized and talked we would occasionally go to the railings and look overboard to try to gauge how much longer we might have.
There seemed to be two mindsets about our plight. Most believed that we would be rescued long before the ship sank. Others, like myself, thought we would probably have to abandon ship. The former group accused the latter of being pessimists and having no faith. The latter, smaller group thought they were wiser. Even though there were no lifeboats, there was no sense of panic. Regardless of which belief you held, you could look and see that the shoreline was not too far away. It would be a strenuous swim, to be sure, but we all figured we could make it if we had to.
Looking over on the shore I saw the figure of a man and as I watched I realized that it was an old Apostle. No one seemed to notice him except me, or at least, if they did, they chose to ignore him. He was jumping up and down loudly and cupping his hands to his mouth in a frantic effort to make himself heard. The distance was much too far for his voice to travel but I understood that he was warning of danger and this caused me to try to figure out for myself what he was saying.
Suddenly, in an instant, it dawned on me. We were slowly but surely drifting farther and farther from the shore and the currents were getting stronger all the time. Not only was the swim going to be more difficult the longer we waited, but if we waited too long, the suction of the ship would pull us under and we wouldn't be able to escape. I started telling everybody as frantically as the old Apostle on the shore that we had to get off NOW before it was too late!
I pointed people to the old Apostle and told them to listen to him. Very few believed that what I was telling them was what he was actually saying though I knew with absolute certainty that it was. They watched him with amusement but they found me annoying. The message burned inside of me deeply though and I both reasoned and pleaded with the men to take their loved ones and swim for their lives. Some jumped overboard with their families and swam for shore. The old Apostle ran up and down the shore line helping them out of the water, embracing them and drying them off while I was on the ship pleading with all earnestness. We were working together with all of our might and effort, united in one spirit to save as many as we could.
Though the situation was perilous, there was also joy unspeakable and full of glory shared between myself, the old Apostle, and the families warming themselves on the shoreline. I would have gone down with the ship if the Lord wanted me to but I had my own family with me and when I realized that no one else was going to listen, I threw them overboard and told them to swim as fast as they could and not look back. I gave one last warning and jumped over to help my own family to shore.
That was the end of the dream. I awoke immediately and knew the Lord had spoken to me from heaven, thus qualifying me as an "old man" according to Joel and Peter. Seeing the movie "Titanic" I was amazed to learn that the "suction" principle was actually true. I also found it interesting that an explosion on the ship caused many of those who were being sucked down to be pushed back up to the surface. This spoke to me that Got is not willing for any to perish but wants ALL to come to repentance.