A Dad, a Dream, a Direction

Jeff* was a responsible husband, an ordinary father of two young sons, and a hard-working, traveling salesman. His life on the road was a challenge for the whole family, but they made it work.  

Then the monster appeared. Alcohol got hold of Jeff and wouldn’t let go. He was soon gripped in unyielding addiction. Still, he struggled along, leading the life of a “functioning” alcoholic. 

Late one winter night, his homeward route led down a dark country highway with few cars on the road. When snow began to cover the road, he realized he would never reach home safely, so he stopped at a little roadside motel for the night. 

The Dilemma 

He checked in and went to his room, planning to go to sleep, rise early, and hit the road. But sleep simply would not come. He called the motel desk for directions to a liquor store, but it was many miles away.  

He hoped reading would lead him quickly to drowsiness and then to deep sleep. But he found nothing in the room to read, so he went outside, where he had passed by a local newspaper box. Empty. He headed back to the tiny lobby to look for reading material. Dark. Closed for the night. 

Back in his room, he searched again through all the drawers and closets. Nothing but a phone directory. So he began to read the listings: “AAA Travel …, ABC Childcare, …” etc. But after a page or two on that plan, he was wider awake than ever.  

The Desperation 

Absolutely nothing to read. Well, there was one option, one he had been determined not to turn to. Now, in desperation, Jeff returned to the dresser and pulled a Bible out of a drawer. He was pretty sure he would not understand it. Furthermore, from what he had always heard about it, he must not allow himself to be moved by its message. It could interfere with his lifestyle. 

Then, he devised a creative reading plan. “I’ll read it backward!” he thought. Then he began reading the Bible’s very last verse: 

… nothing unclean, and no one who practices abomination and lying, shall ever come into it, but only those^]whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life (Revelation 21:27). 

Verse by verse, he followed that pattern until he came to this verse:  

And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire (Revelation 20:15). 

It shook him wide awake.  

The Dream  

After fitful sleep finally came, it was soon interrupted by a torturous dream. This is a nutshell narrative of the dream Jeff has shared through the years.  

He envisioned himself walking through a thick, dark forest until he saw a light in the distance. As he stumbled along, the light grew brighter until he found himself overlooking a vast, deep canyon of intense horror. A ferocious fire was consuming countless wailing victims in towering flames.  

The heat of hell scorched his face. Then he heard the sound of rustling leaves in the forest behind him and turned to find its cause. He was horrified. His two young sons had been following close behind him.  

The Direction 

He awakened abruptly, trembling and terrified by that “lake of fire” in his dream. But it opened his heart and became the catalyst for a leap into a new life for Jeff. He sobered up, committed his life to Christ, and became the godly leader of his family. He soon began sharing his story at every opportunity and became active in a mission to distribute Bibles around the world. 

Of course, the Word of God Jeff found in that motel room is still packed today with wisdom and challenges for fathers and sons alike. Consider the following truths from scripture. 

God the Father 

• I will be a father to him and he will be a son to Me; when he commits iniquity, I will correct him with the rod of men and the strokes of the sons of men, but My lovingkindness shall not depart from him, as I took it away from Saul, whom I removed from before you (2 Samuel 7:14-15). 
• Just as a father has compassion on his children,
  So the Lord has compassion on those who fear Him (Psalm 103:13). 

Earthly Fathers 

•        Train up a child in the way he should go,
  Even when he is old he will not depart from it (Proverbs 22:6). 
• Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord (Ephesians 6:4). 
• The father of the righteous will greatly rejoice,
  And he who sires a wise son will be glad in him (Proverbs 23:24). 
• For whom the Lord loves He reproves,
  Even as a father corrects the son in whom he delights (Proverbs 3:12). 

Fathers and Sons 

• Hear, my son, your father’s instruction
  And do not forsake your mother’s teaching (Proverbs 1:8). 
• So he got up and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion for him, and ran and embraced him and kissed him (Luke 15:20). 

This Father’s Day season is the ideal time for every father to ask himself, “How do I measure up as a godly dad?” 

*Name changed for privacy