A Flood and a Building Site

This was another dream I had that was key for the RockAware vision.  (Read the others here: RockAware and Refugees, and The Kingdom House.)

I was teaching again in the public schools, in a make-shift classroom in the middle of the school’s library.  It was a large, multi-level library, tightly lined with shelves upon shelves of books. 

 My students were about 12 or 13 years old and not in the bit interested to learn.  I felt frustrated that I had to deal with several of their behavior problems more than I was teaching them.

 For a moment, I looked out and noticed it was raining outside.  I continued to interact with my students. 

 Soon the light rain turned to a downpour, and the edges of the streets began to swell with water.  “What a storm!” I thought to myself.

 By the time I glanced outside again, I realized the area around our school was flooding!  There was no escape now; our only option was to climb to higher ground and hope the flood waters didn’t reach us.  I took my class and escorted them to the highest point of the building and just waited.

 In a flash, I was no longer in the school, but standing in a safe, dry place far below the school.  I looked up and saw the school had been completely consumed with the floodwaters.  Water was pouring from the land off the side of a cliff, creating a behemoth of a waterfall.  Then, I watched as the water was washing the children away and down the waterfall to their deaths!

 Again, in a flash, I was now up on top of the cliff on dry ground.  The waterfall was still thundering but was situated just beyond me in the distance. 

 On the ground, piles a building material and tools lay scattered about.  I knew I was at a building site.  When I turned around, I gasped as I set my eyes upon this large structure of a building.  Its work was actively in progress, but it also had a completeness to its appearance.  It was solidly intact and completely unaffected by the rain or flood.

 I made my way to the entrance of the building and stepped in.  Upon entry, I heard a voice speaking to me.  I immediately sensed it was the Lord even though I couldn’t see Him.  He began to point out the framework of the building.  He showed me the number of pillars and challenged me to take notice of how they were shaped.  For I don’t know how long, He continued to teach me how to construct a building.

That was the end of the dream. 

Here are some truths I see in the dream:

• In the world, there is always learning but never an arrival to a knowledge of truth. (2 Timothy 3:7). While I taught my students in the library, we were surrounded by an abundance of knowledge. But, very little effectual learning was taking place.  When the floodwaters rose, we had nowhere to go.

• With no truth and no foundation, the next generation has nothing to stand on when the hardships of life coming flooding in. Can you see an illustration of the “build your house on the rock” scripture from my dream?  (Read the two scriptures from Matthew and Luke. ) I can hear the old children’s song from Sunday School playing in my head now:

 

The wise man built his house upon the rock

The wise man built his house upon the rock

The wise man built his house upon the rock

And the house on the rock stood firm.

 

The foolish man built his house upon the sand

The foolish man built his house upon the sand

The foolish man built his house upon the sand

And the house on the sand went splat!

 

• When we give the next generation the Word and model how to step out and obey it, we are helping build a structure in their hearts that will not be shaken, even when the storms come. At RockAware, we want to see our children standing strong in the Lord!

• Beyond individual hearts, we, as God’s people, are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken (Hebrews 12:28). God has established his everlasting kingdom, and God continues to build his kingdom on earth through us.  Regardless of what is happening in the world around us, the work of the kingdom continues to move forward. 

• God’s got the blueprints in His Word. As I sought the Lord in prayer in the days following the dream, I began to receive more “downloads” on how we can teach the next generation to stand firm and build God’s kingdom. 

When I was a teacher in the public school system, we used what they call “standards-based curriculum.”  Every lesson I taught had to touch on one or more concepts from a comprehensive list of standards, which were developed for each grade level in our subject area and the English language.  This ensured that every teacher would cover all of the content and skills the educational boards believed were essential for each student’s growth and development. 

A problematic question we face in education today is, “Who gets to decide what the standards are?”  The “who,” and so, the standards, seems to change every day.  And that’s why worldly truth is like shifting sand.  Our children will be washed away with the culture, having no sense of direction or purpose in it.

Nevertheless, the Lord is the truth; He is the standard. 

God is beckoning his people back to a place of purity, where He is our first love.  He is calling us today to devour his Word, lean in to the voice of the Spirit, and diligently teach our children.

This is our passion here at RockAware.  With the Lord’s help and in collaboration with the Body of believers, we are writing down the blueprints the Lord has given us in His Word.  We are identifying the foundational principles of who God is as well as the pillars of what God does, so we may intentionally teach our children to seek Him and reflect Him in all areas of their life. 

We are developing an extensive list of biblically-based standards, covering what our children should know and should we able to do in their spiritual development.  Parents will be able to grasp them easily and have a sense of direction and motivation to prepare their children at home through lifestyle means.

Don’t miss out when we release our standards, the 12 RockAware Pillars, and our yearly curriculum for littles ones through 12th grade!  Subscribe below!