Control Vs Trust and Being Spirit-Led: A Dream of Discernment in the Last Days
I’ve been praying for insights on the future and how best to prepare for what is coming in the world. This morning I had this dream.
The Dream
I was walking across a bridge, and there were a few other people around me — not with me, but crossing the bridge at the same time. A strawberry-blonde young man with distinct features pulled a gun on me and the others on the bridge.
“On the bridge, my first instinct was to drop to my knees and pray.”
I immediately felt an urgency to drop to my knees, put my face to the pavement, and pray. As I did so, the young man began rounding up other people, and I felt he might shoot me if I stayed on my knees praying. I told him (or perhaps I just thought), “Go ahead and shoot me, if you must.” I felt prepared to die. But he did not shoot me.
The next scene: a large room on the first floor of an office building. There were mainly young women in the room, most of them with long straight hair. They looked well-groomed and bright. The young man was there too, walking around and in charge.
At one point, I remember struggling with him to take away the gun. He seemed more subdued afterward. I don’t remember getting the gun away from him, but suddenly he wasn’t hostile, and he no longer seemed to be forcing people to stay — yet no one left.
In the next scene, a group of young women gathered in a circle talking about how the young man was “like Jesus.” I thought they must be crazy. Did they not remember him holding a gun on us and acting irrational before? I had zero belief that he was anything like Jesus, and I realized people were being deceived.
I walked deeper into the room until I found three men I know. The first is your everyday hardworking conservative Christian of my same religious faith. I asked him if he thought the young man was any good. He said, “No way, he’s crazy.” The second man’s identity I can’t recall. The third was a professional entrepreneur, a friend and former mentor of mine who is Christian but not religious. I asked these two men if they thought the young man was more Satan or more Jesus. They both said Satan.
Not all the young women were deceived. One of them called 911, and we knew the police were coming.
The next scene was in a pharmacy on the opposite end of the building. Three people associated with the young man were hiding. They had climbed up on top of some bins, and the authorities were about to send some kind of fire down on the building. I watched from a distance.
There was a short-haired middle-aged woman and two men. I looked at a dossier of the youngest, a black-haired man, and saw that he had a clean record. There wasn’t much in the dossier except something about his devotion to his girlfriend and a picture of a purple pansy. Understanding that he wasn’t a bad person, I warned him to leave before the authorities attacked the building. He walked out the door, and I followed him out the large main entrance. We passed by the fire truck, ambulance, and cop cars, and the young man went on his way to see his girlfriend, who was evidently not part of the drama.
Interpreting the Bridge
A bridge is a threshold space — a crossing from fear to faith.
On a global scale, it could symbolize a major transition in the world that we are or will experience. On a personal level, standing on the bridge, I may have been crossing into something higher: a new level of awareness, a more surrendered vibration of living.
Wrestling or Praying?
“Wrestling for control leads to fear. Praying on the bridge leads to surrender.”
- Prayer on the Bridge – Putting trust and faith in God first. Going directly to my knees in a crisis is my automatic response.
- Wrestling for the Gun – Represents my tendency to try to control outcomes, to “force safety” by my own strength. Even though my immediate response is to pray, I also feel the need to step in and fix things for myself. But praying on the bridge reminded me that awakening comes not through control, but through trust and prayer.
- Subdued Young Man – Wrestling didn’t win me possession of the weapon, but it did shift him from offensive to deceptive, which led many of the young women to believe he was Jesus-like.
The Deceiver and the Deceived
“Even the bright and beautiful can be deceived if they forget the truth of Christ.”
The young, well-groomed, and seemingly bright individuals in the dream began falling for the young man’s deception. I and the other older adults (all late 50s and older) were not fooled.
If everyone in the dream represents a part of myself, this could symbolize my younger tendency to see people through rose-colored glasses, always seeking the good and not recognizing danger. My older, wiser self is not so easily duped.
On a global scale, this could foreshadow a coming anti-Christ figure (or figures) who may deceive even the brightest and best (aka “even the very elect”).
The Pharmacy
The pharmacy represented man-made healing, medicine, and remedies — a false place of safety. These people were looking for safety and healing in a place that was dangerous and soon to be destroyed. Where am I looking for healing, remedies or safety in a place that isn’t going to be viable for long?
The Pansy and the Song
“We don’t have to fix the whole world. We just need to gladden our small corner.”
The black-haired young man and the purple pansy, however, carried a different message. Pansies symbolize remembrance. He represented innocence, and perhaps the pansy meant “remembering innocence.”
The pansy also reminded me of a childhood song I loved:
Little purple pansies, touched with yellow gold,
Growing in one corner of the garden old;
We are very tiny but must try, try, try
Just one spot to gladden, you and I.
This simple song is a reminder to shine where you’re planted, even if it’s just one small corner.
A Lesson in Caregiving
“In my caregiving, the gun is fear. The bridge is prayer. The pansy is love in my corner.”
As I reflected further, I realized the dream ties directly to my caregiving for my father. When he does something that lacks judgment and puts him in danger, I often respond sharply. My sharpness comes from fear — fear that he’ll hurt himself, fall, or forget something important.
In those moments, I’m “wrestling with the gun,” trying to control. But the dream, the pansy, and the Spirit all point me back to prayer on the bridge: releasing the fear, trusting God’s timing, and gladdening my corner with love rather than control.
Christ vs. Anti-Christ: The Spirit of Truth
“The real Jesus Christ is always accompanied by the unmistakable Spirit of Truth.”
This dream also stirred a bigger question: Would I recognize the true Christ if false Christs appeared?
At church, the Spirit gave me this insight:
- False Christs may appeal to fascination, fear, or desperate desire.
- But the real Jesus Christ is always accompanied by the Spirit of Truth.
That Spirit brings peace, clarity, and a resonance deep in the soul. The key isn’t intellectual arguments or external signs, but a living familiarity with the Spirit itself and a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. When I focus on recognizing and trusting the Spirit of Truth, I cannot be deceived.
Takeaway
- Wrestling for control = fear and self-reliance
- Praying on the bridge = faith and surrender
- The pansy = gladden your small corner, trust God’s timing
- The Spirit of Truth = the sure guide for discernment in a world of counterfeits
Stop wrestling. Step onto the bridge. Pray. Let the Spirit lead.
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