Dreaming dreams: the time is always now – by Philippa Linton

I am reading through the entire Bible at the moment, which is taking me about three years. Yesterday I read through the book of Joel – it’s a short book, but it packs a punch. The words of this Old Testament prophet landed in my soul with chilling force. This verse in particular leapt out at me:

‘Surely the people’s joy is withered away.’ Joel 1: 14

When Joel was prophesying, the nation of Israel was facing ruin and desolation. His is a haunting vision looking over the vistas of human history. He is compelled by God’s Spirit to speak of divine judgment and reckoning, but his is also a profound message of repentance, hope and restoration.

We need hope and encouragement during our current crisis. COVID-19 is not on the same scale as the Black Death, which wiped out millions in Europe in the 14th century: we at least have the blessing of modern medicine, and the eventual hope of a vaccine. But none of this mitigates the terrible power of COVID-19, a miniscule pathogen currently wreaking havoc and devastation on every nation on this planet. Whatever your apocalyptic theology, I think we can all agree these are significant times. We are being tested. Western democracy is being tested. The Church is being tested. We are living through history … and part of me wishes that we weren’t.

Yet we are always living through history. We are the history. We make the history. As a writer, that inspires and encourages me. God never, ever wants his people to be passive. As writers we have a holy vocation, to respond to his call to be creative. He also calls us to be witnesses to the world, and we can do that powerfully through our writing. Others will find comfort and hope in our stories of struggle and suffering, as they recognise fellow travellers on the road. Other writers have a prophetic edge. For all of us in Christ, the time is always now. God lives in the eternal present, his purposes are always unfolding, his Spirit is always with us, and there is always a ‘kairos’* moment waiting to be born … including, I believe, in our writing.

I want to encourage us today with a beautiful, illuminating prophecy of hope, right in the middle of Joel, right tin the middle of the judgment, the suffering, the perplexity and the dread:

‘And afterwards, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days.’ Joel 2: 28-29 (NIV– UK)

As writers, we can dream dreams – dreams of hope, courage and fulfilment in the purposes of God. We can ask God to birth those dreams in us, and in others. The time, with God, is always ‘now’.

N.B. Ancient Greek had two words for time: ‘chronos’ and ‘kairos’. ‘Chronos’ means chronological or sequential time, while ‘kairos’ means the right and opportune moment to act. In the New Testament, ‘kairos’ means the appointed time in God’s purposes, the time when God acts, as in Mark 1:15: ‘”The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!”’

I work for the United Reformed Church in the central London office (although am working from home at the moment). I’m also a lay minister. I wrote a devotional for the anthology ‘Light for the Writer’s Soul’, published by Media Associates International, and my short story ‘Magnificat’ appears in the ACW Christmas Anthology ‘Merry Christmas Everyone’.