October 9
What He Gives His Beloved in Sleep
In the Hour of Silence"Then spake the Lord to Paul in the night by a vision."—Acts 18:9.
EVEN the dreams of the good are watched over and made sweet by their Lord—their Lord who neither slumbers nor sleeps.
I read, in early Church history, of the dreams of young Perpetua, so full of encouragement, so bright with the glories of the heavenly world, which strengthened her to bear her testimony to Christ among the wild beasts. She climbed the golden stair, and saw the Good Shepherd, and tasted His bread and milk, and the dragon could not hold her back.
I read, in modern Christian literature, of the dreams of Andrew Bonar, that lustrous saint of the latter day—how, in the night, he was caught up to meet his Lord in the air; how, when his sin testified against him, Christ with His Potentissimus met and conquered all the sin; how he knew that the black indictment and the sorrowful sentence were blotted out by the Hand in which the nails had left their scars.
And here I read of the dreams of St. Paul. The Lord said unto Paul in the night by a vision, Be not afraid.
"Sinful dreams," one said two hundred and fifty years ago, "are counted our sins, because our vain minds in the daytime run upon evil thoughts, and we are not careful, by prayer and heavenly meditating, to season our hearts with gear which will bring holy dreams in their place." My God, so cleanse Thou my life, and occupy it during my waking hours, that, when I lie down, I shall still hold intercourse with Thee. Then, when I awake, my sleep, like that of him who needed sorely Thy strong consolations, shall be sweet unto me.