Being Like-Minded

"If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by  being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose."  Philippians 2:1-2

Well, this verse was more than appropriate to stumble upon this morning! Because I had a very vivid dream this morning that like-mindedness was not going on.  It was actually a bit disturbing, and it took me a while to fall back asleep after it woke me because I wondered what it was saying to me.  But in my dream, Andy and I were not like-minded at all.  In fact, we were at some one's house, who it turned out, was some weird cultish family- believed un-Biblical things and were spending their time trying to convert us.   I finally had enough, and I grabbed the kids and said we were leaving, except that Andy said he'd decided to stay and hear more.  He like what he was hearing.  I tried to pray for him to no avail, and the kids and I got in our van and left.

Bothersome, obviously.  Even more bothersome, because last night before going to bed, I had read most of Genesis, and when I was reading about Joseph and dreams and dream interpretation, I remember thinking to myself that I would like to spend more time learning about dream interpretation.  And I kind of shot up a quick little prayer in my head to ask God for more dreams, so that I could learn more.

Admittedly, I like the happy dreams better.  The ones with warnings and dire situations are not fun to discern and pick apart, and I have had a few too many as of late.  This one last night though, is fortunately, not a dream about something in the natural.  My husband's faith is firm and without fault, and if he ever were in a situation similar, you can bet that he would spend his time trying to convert the other people- not spend time listening and absorbing their dribble, only to end up believing it.   But this verse this morning makes me think, because there was one aspect of the dream that sticks out- and it's here in this verse.  Andy and I were not like-minded in the dream.   In fact, we were so not like minded that we were going in separate directions- and that is something to explore further and get to the bottom of.

Because you know what?  As you read the verse up above, there is great encouragement in there.  For we read here today that there is a HUGE perk to being a Christian.  And that is that when we become a child of God and accept Christ as our Savior, we also become united with others who have made the same decision.  Think about that- every person on this earth who has asked Jesus into their lives has common ground with you.  But even more so, Paul goes on to say that we can also take joy in the fact that we are like-minded.  And that we share the same love- Godly love, which binds us together as one spirit with one purpose- to win more souls for eternal citizenship in Heaven.

I didn't share my dream here this morning to make anyone think there is anything bad going on in either my or Andy's lives.  The dream used an extreme example of not being like-minded, and whatever it is that we need to explore and discuss could be something very small and minimal- just that we're not on the same page about something.  And it also doesn't necessarily mean that Andy is on the wrong side of thinking- just because the dream says he was.   In fact, it's probably the opposite.  The last several weeks have been challenging here, to say the least.  Andy broke two of his fingers in his dominant hand several weeks ago, and it's been a real challenge for me ever since. Of course, it was the same time as we were beginning school, so the kids and I were adjusting to a newer, busier schedule.  In addition to schooling though, over the last three weeks I have also had to attempt to maintain some kind of order in the household- as well as do all the extra work that Andy does- like the yard work and taking out the recycling, and admittedly, I've been overwhelmed and a tad bit cross.

Yesterday, for an unbelievable second, I was actually thankful that my garden tanked this year, because if it was producing tomatoes like my brother's garden, I wouldn't have been able to deal with it, quite frankly.  My days are crazy and too full as it is, one more task on top of what needs to be accomplished could have been the thing that causes me to really go bananas.

Thankfully though, I have an escape.  When I just can't think about doing one more load of laundry, or loading up the dishwasher one more time, I sit down with my Bible.  I sit down and read about the blessings of the Lord and everything else melts away- including my bad attitude.   And you know what?  Because we are all like-minded in Christ, we can all have the same experience.  Every single one of us can open up our Bible when we're struggling and find peace and encouragement from the pages within.   Because God is good all the time, and He ALWAYS has a word for us to read in His precious book.  I like to think that those days, when I just don't want to lift another finger to do housework or yard work, that God actually delights in me ditching my duties to curl up and spend some time reading His words, and seeing if He has something to say to me.   And what God will bless me with, He will bless you with.  Let's purpose to be more like-minded, and to spend more time in His Word, learning about His Love and His Purpose.  What could be better than that?