Call unto me and I will answer you
and show you great and deep things which you do not know.
Jeremiah 33:3
Thursday morning March 1, 2007, I had a dream. I am walking along the seashore. The water is blue and the sand is white and shining. I have no shoes as I am walking on the sand. I met a man and he became very friendly with me so I asked, “What are you doing here?” He answered, “I am the one who prepares graves.” As a joke I said to him, “Show me the graves that you have prepared.” He pointed to one and put his hand on the grave as if to show me that it is finished. But some of the plaster on the grave fell down and the man said, “The grave is incomplete.’’
This grave was not typical of the oriental style; it was like a tomb. It was 6 feet long 2 1/2 feet wide just built on the ground.
When I woke up that the morning I joked with Shafaqat, a young man who was living with us that time. I told him that I had seen a grave in my dream which is wet and not yet fully dried.
Later that night I received a phone call from Lahore. It was my wife Iris. She told me that when she got her check up from the doctor he advised her to have a surgery immediately. I insisted that she should have her surgery in Islamabad, but she was more inclined to have it in Lahore, so I agreed. Iris had already had three major abdominal surgeries; this would be her fourth.
The following day I traveled to Lahore (Friday, March 2) and visited Iris in the hospital. On Saturday morning, 3rd March, three hours prior to surgery Iris began to vomit. At 10.30 a.m. she was taken to the operating theatre. We were told that surgery would take just 30 minutes. But it lasted for 90 minutes.
During this time my dream was recalled many times and the words spoken in the dream resounded, “The grave is not complete.” These words gave me a lot of assurance and strength that Lord would spare Iris’ life, that she has still more days to live on this earth; the Lord would heal her.
Sarah helped a lot when she was admitted and during the lab tests; she gave emotional support to Iris and helped to prepare her for surgery. Sarah’s mother, Sameena, was also very helpful. Naeem and Ruby did a great job. Cynthia too was a great help.
After the surgery, the doctor reported that he had found a lot of puss in the gall bladder area and it was full of stones. He first made a little hole and put the camera into the area. Nothing was visible on the screen; even the camera had sunk into the puss. Then they opened her side. There was a lot of infection. If the surgery had been delayed, Iris’ gall bladder could have ruptured; a very dangerous situation, fatal and life threatening.
This was written on Saturday, March 4. On Monday the gall bladder will be biopsied. The results of the biopsy will really tell about the future health of Iris. The Lord showed me that there is great disappointment, but I will spare her life. By the Grace of God she is already much better. I pray as the specimen goes for further examination that the Lord will take control of everything and the result will be good.
In the hospital I shared my dream with evangelist Mushtaq Masih from FD. He said, “The Lord tells his people what things are coming on our way.”
I believe when we walk close to the Lord, follow his instruction and commandments. He informs as about the things to come and warns us to be attentive and be in prayer. So when we pray to God then He listens, guides us, shows his plans beforehand and answers our prayers according to His divine will. God is good.
