The Lion Prepares You for Goliath

This was a blog post I originally posted on August 29, 2013. (I had a different website then, so I am reposting it now). It came up as a Facebook memory today, so I thought I would re-share it. I feel it is a timely word for many of you. I pray it encourages you.

Original Post:

"Just as Jesus would use parables to convey spiritual truths to people, so the way of dreams often go. God will often use dreams to show you deep spiritual truths that relate to your personal life. If I may, let me give you a sneak peak behind the proverbial curtain into my life recently so that you can understand one of the reasons I feel the Lord gave me this dream.

For the past 5 months I have been going through one of the most difficult battles in my spiritual walk. Without disclosing all the boring specific details, I experienced betrayal by someone in ministry that I was very close to and gave my life to for the past year, helping them in every way possible – physically, emotionally, spiritually, financially, and relationally. This person not only betrayed me, but worse…was lying, slandering, gossiping, being a false witness, stealing, trying to destroy my reputation in ministry, and maliciously/viciously conspiring with others to create further attacks against me, including praying against me and pursuing law suits. I’m not exaggerating when I say this all happened without a days notice. I had sacrificed my life for an entire year and every dollar of my ministry to help them with theirs – even sacrificing a promotion and a free all-expense paid trip to Hawaii (which God redeemed by causing me to win a drawing for free tickets to Hawaii!) These are other lessons I learned for a later time! lol Can anyone say “BOUNDARIES”? ROTFL!

During the ferocious battle as the attacks kept coming, I would pray earnestly to the Lord and seek His direction on how to handle each situation that sought to lop my head off. So many nights, I literally cried myself to sleep. In my desperate pleas for help and wisdom, God would always direct me to be still, be quiet, and give Him room to vindicate me…simply trust Him. (Wait…did I say, “simply”…Note to self: Simple does not mean easy.)  My fleshly soul was screaming as loud as it could to leap at any and every opportunity to “Set the record straight”…after all, I had truth on my side, so why sit still and be quiet!!?? Even though I’ve taught the lesson of not defending yourself to others on numerous occasions, I had never been given such an extravagant opportunity to prove I believed it.

Most of you reading this have gone through similar situations and I would venture to guess all of you have been betrayed. My prayer is that this dream will give you the epiphany eye opening experience it gave me about how handling betrayal properly has purpose and it promotes you to the next spiritual level ~ it’s part of your spiritual boot camp before you get released to a higher realm in God!

HERE’S THE DREAM – (I teach my students to give their dreams 3 titles.) For this dream, I titled it, “DAVID & THE LION”; “The Lion Prepares You for Goliath”; and “Getting the Picture!” – I will show you later how summarizing effective titles are the quickest way to interpret your dreams.

I was standing in front of a HUGE open storage area that had several levels. It was made of silver metal and seemed to be quite full. The shape of the building reminded me of a moving trailer for an 18 wheeler – only one side was completely open – as though a huge door was open and slidden all the way to the left and would be closed soon. I could see there were multiple levels of this building. I looked up and saw a hard-working man on the 2nd level putting a HUMONGOUS lion away that he had killed – it was incredibly heavy and I had never seen a lion that large before. I would guess the lion was about 12′ long and 7′ high. The lion’s head alone was about 6′x3′. It was incredibly heavy for the man to put away and I could see the throat of the lion had been cut 2/3rds of the way. The throat had been cut from right to left. Any further and the head would have come completely off. I thought to myself he should remember this next time difficulties come up. As the man put the lion away, I was remembering in the Bible how David killed the lion and the bear before he killed Goliath, the giant.

Even though the man had just put the lion away in storage, I asked him if he could get it back out so I could take a picture with my cell phone. The lion had been so unbelievably large and unusual, that I thought it would be amazing to have a picture to show others. He was delighted to do so. He went and got the lion back out even though he was exhausted and allowed me to take a picture with my cell phone. He then put the lion away again – I could tell it was incredibly heavy and wore him out. As he was putting the lion away, I began thinking about David and the lion and picturing how the actual attack must have looked while it was happening. I could see it play out in my minds eye and thought, “Wow! Not sure how David actually survived that – he must have gotten on the inside by the lion’s heart & belly to be able to kill it.” I saw a big open field where David must have been tending the sheep just before he left to go kill Goliath. On the far side, at the edge of the field was the woods. The lion came from the woods and as it raised up to attack David (on its hind legs), David got on the inside of the lion and killed it by getting near his heart, pulling up his beard, and then cutting his throat with a big knife. I just kept thinking to myself, “wow”…I had never seen a lion as big as the one this guy killed and I knew he killed it the same way David did. [END OF DREAM]

Whenever I interpret a dream from the Lord, it seems that no matter how much I seem to extract from the dream, it continues endlessly to reveal itself on deeper levels. I will attempt the interpretation as of today, but please understand the Lord may continue to reveal things about the dream for days, weeks, months, and even years. In addition, God may choose to show YOU specific things in this dream for your own situation that are not a part of mine. Simply allow God to reveal whatever it is He wants to show you. I will give a brief overview interpretation and then break it down line by line in detail.

BRIEF INTERPRETATION OF THE DREAM: The dream reveals that a fierce attack came and because it was handled correctly – like David would have handled it…allowing God to deal with the enemy – there was victory. The dream shows I’m “getting the picture” of how to handle vicious attacks and to remember this in the future when bigger things come. The way to handle it is to get to their heart (which allows conviction to come and their attack will usually stop), and simply being truthful and waiting on the Lord (the knife represents the truth against their verbal attacks (cutting their throat would be cutting off the verbal attacks with the truth). The dream also lets me know that God sees that the attack I was going through was HUGE (the lion was huge – and the attacker was a huge LIAR – they were “lyin’ ” [lion] ) and that I need to remember to handle situations like this in the future just as David did and also to tell others about it.

EXTENDED INTERPRETATION OF THE DREAM: (I’m re-posting the dream, line by line. Interpretation will be in italics.)

I was standing in front of a HUGE open storage area that had several levels.
I’m being shown something HUGE. It’s something that has many levels of learning and a lot was learned and stored up for the future. I also believe that it represents the rewards that are stored up for the righteous. [Proverbs 13:22 A good [man] leaves an inheritance to his children’s children, But the wealth of the sinner is stored up for the righteous.; 1 Samuel 24:19 (Saul speaking to David) “For if a man finds his enemy, will he let him get away safely? Therefore may the LORD reward you with good for what you have done to me this day.”; Matthew 6:6 “But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who [is] in the secret [place]; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly. (I HAD CRIED IN SECRET TO THE LORD…AND THE STORAGE UNIT IN THE DREAM WAS OPEN SO ALL COULD SEE.) Luke 6:35 “But love your enemies, do good, and lend, hoping for nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High. For He is kind to the unthankful and evil.” There are many verses about being rewarded for doing the right thing. Here are just a few: Ruth 2:12; Job 34:11; Psalm 19:9-11; Proverbs 11:18; Proverbs 25:21-22; Matthew 5:12; Matthew 16:27; 1 Corinthians 3:8, 3:14; Colossians 3:24; Hebrews 10:35; Revelation 11:18, 22:12.

It was made of silver metal and seemed to be quite full.
Silver usually represents understanding and/or redemption. I believe it reveals I have been given understanding about many things (many things in the storage area) and that the Lord will REDEEM everything! I also think there may be word-plays for the metal (or steel)…perhaps it means learning things about those who “meddle” (metal) in the affairs of others and those who steal (steel). I also found it incredibly interesting that if you look up the Hebrew and Greek words for “Full”, it is an array of meanings that mean many things that fit the rest of the interpretation for this dream…things like recompense, reward, righteous, peaceable, satisfied, weary, full of labor, and so much more! Make sure to search the scriptures for words that you use in God-given dreams. 

The shape of the building reminded me of a moving trailer for an 18 wheeler – only one side was completely open – as though a huge door was open and slidden all the way to the left and would be closed soon.

I could see there were multiple levels of this building.
This indicates there was a lot to deal with on many levels and also that I learned lessons on many levels. I also remember thinking that each level was like a platform. Platforms can indicate being given influence with others.

I looked up and saw a hard-working man on the 2nd level putting a HUMONGOUS lion away that he had killed – it was incredibly heavy and I had never seen a lion that large before.
Looking up would be looking to the Lord for help. The hard-working man was a representation of me working hard through this enormous battle and it also represented all the literal hard labor and work I had done for this person. The HUGE lion was the huge liar and all the attacks I had dealt with. Putting it away, meant storing it in my heart and mind for a later time to remember how to handle big situations. There was emphasis on the enormity of the lion – which represented the enormity of the battle and the level of difficulty it was and that I overcame it! A guy many times in dreams may represent authority, so I believe the reason I was portrayed as a man in the dream was because I was walking in authority when I did things God’s way. The 2nd level was also like a platform. I believe going through this battle will give me a new platform in ministry – increased influence, and also that the 2nd level was so full it would be time to move on to the 3rd level – PROMOTION from God! (His number is often 3 for The Father, The Son, and The Holy Spirit). I believe the 2nd level also meant that what I was dealing with was a spiritual attack from the 2nd heaven – which is the demonic realm. (The first heaven is earth [the air, sky, celestial], the 2nd heaven is presumably the demonic realm by deduction [Ephesians 3:10-11, 6:12-13]. By deduction, we know that where Jesus is seated in Heaven, is above where the demonic realm is [Ephesians 1:20-21], and the 3rd heaven is HEAVEN (GOD) [2 Corinthians 12:2]. The heaviness was the weightiness or magnitude of the issues I dealt with. I had never experienced an attack to that magnitude before.

I would guess the lion was about 12′ long and 7′ high. The lion’s head alone was about 6′x3′.
Numbers have significance in scripture. The number 12 usually represents governmental order (spiritual authority) and the number 7 usually represents completion. I had dealt with a serious matter (HUGE) with someone in spiritual authority (12) and the matter was finally complete (7). I believe the lion’s head represented the person and their authority – they had a “big head”, which is a saying meaning “prideful”, and 6 is the number of labor or man and man’s ways. 3 may have represented they belonged to God – a believer/Christian. According to E.W. Bullinger, it may also signify human capability – thought, word & deed…everything man thinks, says, and does, therefore, perhaps it indicates everything this person though, said and did that was evil evil was overcome and the matter is now complete.

It was incredibly heavy for the man to put away and I could see the throat of the lion had been cut 2/3rds of the way. The throat had been cut from right to left.
Again, I believe the lion being heavy means this person was a heavy weight in the spirit (for good or bad), it was a heavy or weighty situation to have to deal with and very difficult and perhaps there’s a word play there, too… heavy weight may represent it was hard (heavy) to WAIT (weight) on the Lord to vindicate me (There's tons of scripture for waiting on the Lord!) A knife would be how I handled the situation with truth, which in turn cut off the effectiveness of the voice of the liar. From right to left I believe is a word play meaning, I was “right” (correct) to leave (left) and also that I came from a place of “being right”…TRUTH. I also think that 2/3rd represents the numbers 2 and 3. Two usually means a matter has been established (a done deal/something definite) and again, three would probably indicate by God (Father, Son, & Holy Spirit). The fact that there was 1/3 left, would most likely indicate to leave to God what’s remains (1 meaning God who alone rules, 3 meaning His complete nature and “left” would indicate what remains).

Any further and the head would have come completely off.
I think this may represent the fact that I didn’t take things as far as I could have. I think I could have demanded this person be removed from ministry and taken it all the way until they were, but I chose instead to simply speak facts and truth and not engage in a full assault and allow God to make the decision. (Let me just say the old me would have absolutely pushed it all the way UNTIL they were fully removed because I used to think that was justice or righteous indignation. The Lord is teaching me to always allow HIM to handle that part!) A deeper study of David and Saul will reveal to you how David had every opportunity to kill Saul and because of the fear of the Lord, he chose instead to trust God to handle Saul [Found in 1 Samuel]. Ultimately, Saul lost his anointing, was tormented and was killed. David was promoted and rewarded for his righteousness! I was very much like David in this scenario, in that I protected this person, defended them, fought for them, provided for them and they turned on me. Like David, I cried out to God, “if this were an enemy I could handle it, but it’s a friend!” [Psalm 41:9; Psalm 55:12-14]

I thought to myself he should remember this next time difficulties come up.
David had no fear of Goliath because he had already seen God’s faithfulness in prior situations with the lion and the bear. The key is that David gave the glory to God and realized it was not in his own strength – it was the Lord who delivered him [1 Samuel 17:37]. Conquering two fierce animals gave David the courage he needed for any fight with the enemy, because he trusted God’s faithfulness. Jesus did the same thing when He was betrayed, mocked, accused, etc. He fully trusted that God would make all things right in the end. An important lesson to learn from David and the lion, too, is that he only killed the lion for 2 reasons: 1. The lion had hurt the sheep, so David was protecting the innocent; and 2. He only killed the lion in self defense! David did not take any offensive, aggressive action that provoked the attack. We have to be innocent in an attack for the Lord to be able to defend us. God will not defend or justify sin. Ironically, about a year after this dream I in fact did encounter an even bigger battle through an unexpected divorce, and God reminded me of this dream and how to handle the divorce and everything came out in my favor!

As the man put the lion away, I was remembering in the Bible how David killed the lion and the bear before he killed Goliath, the giant.
[1 Samuel 17:34-37] I knew God was comparing the scenario to David and the lion in scripture and I needed to study David. He was showing me that using the same strategy David used is what caused me to be victorious.

Even though the man had just put the lion away in storage, I asked him if he could get it back out so I could take a picture with my cell phone.
I knew this was a recent (something I just put behind me – put away, just as the man put it away) and a rare thing to have gone through and been victorious over and that I needed to “get the picture” and remember to do things God’s way in the future when people come against me. Again... because I "got the picture" of how to handle attacks, I was prepared for the next couple of big ones that came my way beginning a year later. 

The lion had been so unbelievably large and unusual, that I thought it would be amazing to have a picture to show others. He was delighted to do so. He went and got the lion back out even though he was exhausted and allowed me to take a picture with my cell phone.
I believe this shows my willingness to endure the situation even though it was exhausting. It also indicates I need to “get the picture” for how to talk to God about the situation instead of people (cell phone is communication with the Lord vs. a land line, which would be communication with others). It also suggests that I should share this with others so they, too, can get the picture and encouragement of how it’s an incredibly BIG DEAL to God when you allow Him to defend you. The guy being willing and delighted to do so, I believe reveals that when you do things God’s way – and with a good attitude, the outcome will make you victorious and you’ll experience great joy! I also believe it means when you do things God’s way, He is overjoyed with you and victory always comes! 

He then put the lion away again – I could tell it was incredibly heavy and wore him out.
I believe this is an indication to now put this incredibly exhausting situation behind me and move on! It may also reveal that the situation has now been “exhausted” and no further action is required.

As he was putting the lion away, I began thinking about David and the lion and picturing how the actual attack must have looked while it was happening. I could see it play out in my minds eye and thought, “Wow! Not sure how David actually survived that – he must have gotten on the inside by the lion’s heart & belly to be able to kill it.” I believe the strategy throughout this experience with how vicious this other person was, was for me to remain loving, kind and quiet so that the Holy Spirit would be able to convict them in their heart. The belly is often the seat of the soul - soul is the mind, will, and emotions. This person was ruled by their emotions and justifying things in their mind. They needed to see me as a person and not an enemy to be able to see their own actions as wrong. God’s ultimate plan is ALWAYS redemption! He’s always more concerned that His children are all restored and right with Him than who is right or wrong. He desires both sides of a situation be restored. When we engage in battles, more often than not, it’s love and kindness that will win the battle. Fiercely being combative only causes people to harden their hearts and justify their sin. Fighting head on only causes offense and puts stumbling blocks in the way of forgiveness and repentance. We must follow in the path Jesus took and He NEVER defended Himself because He trusted that God was just and perfect and would make everything right in His Father’s own time. We also must remember that Jesus still has not been fully vindicated and won’t until the end of the age when He returns! If He trusts the Father and is still waiting, so must we!

I saw a big open field where David must have been tending the sheep just before he left to go kill Goliath.
One of the reasons I believe I was allowed to go through this battle was because the sheep/lambs needed to be protected! (The sheep are believers who follow a Christian leader – lambs specifically indicate innocence) I believe God needed someone to be on the inside of the situation and handle the situation properly so that things would finally be brought into the light and people would be protected from further misleading and spiritual abuse. I had witnessed some of this while I was involved with this person. In the events recounted in 1 Samuel 17:34, it even states that the lion had taken a lamb from the flock and had it in its mouth and that’s why David attacked the lion and the bear. One thing to notice is that it was a lamb. Lambs usually represent innocent believers or Jesus Christ – who is also innocent. That reveals to me that there will be times when we, as leaders, need to speak up and stop the attacks on God’s flock – those who are innocent. There may also be times when we have to defend our belief in Jesus Christ or defend His honor…which is what David did when he killed Goliath!

On the far side, at the edge of the field was the woods.
Me seeing this on the far side, I think represents I saw this coming for “a long” time…a ways off! (on the far side). I also think the fact that it was not in the woods, but in the field, meant that hidden things (the lion in the woods) needed to be brought out into the open and dealt with (the lion coming out and dealing with it). The field in scripture can mean the world or people's hearts and in this case I believe it meant dealing with someone's heart who was acting like "the world" would act (vs. believers in Jesus Christ). 

The lion came from the woods and as it raised up to attack David (on it’s hind legs),
I believe this person came from the proverbial woods (a difficult place – in trouble financially, emotionally, etc.) and the fact that the lion fought by “raising up”, represented the fact that this person attacked me because of the things they’ve been through (also a meaning for the woods) and how they were “raised up or reared up” as a child/adult. Even in 1 Samuel 17:34-37 it refers to the lion rearing up! This person had experienced much trauma in their life (which was why I was eager to help them, but I should have had better boundaries). I can’t help but think there are also so many parallels about the book, “HINDs Feet on High Places” by  Hannah Hurnard. (The HIND legs of the lion).

David got on the inside of the lion and killed it by getting near his heart, pulling up his beard, and then cutting his throat with a big knife. I believe I had to go through this experience because God needed someone “on the inside” to witness what was going on to save those that were innocently getting hurt, but also, as already stated, getting to the heart is the main desire of God. I’ve already discussed what the knife and throat was above. Pulling up the beard, would be what happens when you get to their heart...it forces them to look up to God. That's what happened... David forced the lion's head up. 

I just kept thinking to myself, “wow”…I had never seen a lion as big as the one this guy killed and I knew he killed it the same way David did. [END OF DREAM]
I truly have never witnessed someone who has lied so severely and done so many other horrendous things in ministry. They were the “BIG LYON” – big liar and someone who attacks others…specifically other believers (the sheep/lambs). I know now the way to handle them is to let God do it and simply speak the truth when given an opportunity. [THE END OF INTERPRETATION]"

If you are interested in learning more about dreams, visions, and how to interpret them along with natural and supernatural experiences, make sure to sign up for our email list on the main page of this website (at the top) - click the button, "I WANT INFO". Classes begin in September!