The Apartment

The Apartment

A Dream That Stayed With Me

By Joey Raines

My Dream

I dreamed that after being gone for a long time, I finally returned to my apartment. The hallway was different. A maintenance man had remodeled it, and everything looked changed. Because of that, I could not remember which door was mine. I stopped for a moment, told him how nice his work looked, and then kept looking until I realized my door had been there all along, untouched. I had simply forgotten which one it was.

When I stepped inside, the place felt new but also familiar. It was an extremely nice apartment. Everything was placed perfectly. Nothing was out of order. It looked like I must have been rich, but it was still only a one-floor apartment. Simple, clean, and comfortable. It felt like it had been waiting for me.

I put my things away and went into the bedroom to rest. For a moment, I even thought about inviting someone over to spend the night with me, since I was living alone. When I closed the door, I heard a faint whimper.

I opened the door again and followed the sound. On the couch was a dog. My dog. I had forgotten about him, as if I had just gotten him before I left. He looked at me, calm but still whimpering. He was hungry. The moment I saw him, guilt came over me. I told him I was sorry and went to the cupboard to get a bowl and food for him. He did not hold it against me. He only waited, faithful, as if he had been waiting the whole time I was gone.

When I reached up to grab the bowl and the food, I saw everything fade away. That is when I woke up.

In that dream, I lived alone. No wife, no kids. Just me. I felt like a traveler who never stayed anywhere long enough to belong.

My Take on the Dream

When I woke up, I could not shake it. I wondered if the dream meant my wife had died, or if she had been taken up in the rapture while I was left behind. I thought maybe Jesus was already King of the earth, living here during the thousand years, with the new city of Jerusalem hovering above. One thing I knew for certain was this: my wife and I were not divorced.

I do not claim to know the meaning of this dream. I only know what I saw, what I felt, and how it stayed with me after I opened my eyes.

It came back to me that the Lord once said not to let my heart be troubled, but to believe in Him. In His Father’s house are many mansions, and He has gone to prepare a place. He promised that if He goes and prepares a place, He will come again and receive us to Himself, so that where He is, we may be also.

And I remembered the vision of the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared like a bride adorned for her husband.

When I put these words beside my dream, I began to see it differently. Maybe the apartment was not just a home but a picture of the place He has prepared. Maybe the confusion in the hallway was the reminder that in this life, things will change, but what belongs to us in Him is never moved. Maybe the dog was a picture of faithfulness, waiting for me just as the Lord waits for His own to return.

I cannot say for sure, but I believe the dream was a glimpse, a small shadow of what is to come. A reminder that He has gone to prepare a place, that the holy city will descend, and that the promises of God are certain.

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