Some years ago I had a particularly vivid dream. It started with my looking into what appeared to be a ‘roof-room.’ The ceiling was like an inverted V covered by knotty-pine boards. The same timber was on the walls. The room was furnished and attractive, with the windows at the far end wide open, gaily-coloured curtains stirring in the light breeze and the sunlight pouring in. All in all, it was a very attractive and inviting place.
Next to it I was shown another room. In shape and design it was identical to the first one, and yet it was totally different. The grimy windows were closed, the curtains hung limp and listless, cobwebs draped the corners and the dusty air was grey and unmoving. There was no sun. It was a very unappealing place and I longed to go in, throw open the windows and clean it out!
Then I was taken to a third room. The door was under my left armpit and opened on stairs that led down into a thick black darkness. I could see nothing, although I knew that there was something down there. I did not wish to enter and hoped I wouldn’t have to!
When I awoke I pondered the dream and then prayed about it. It seemed to me that God said there were three areas in my life represented by these rooms. The one was wide-open, filled with light and very attractive. The second was grey and unappealing and the third was a dark area ‘that we will have to do something about!’ I was not too sure about that last comment but, as I was not invited to express an opinion, said nothing.
However, I did start praying about the rooms – particularly thanking God for the sunny area, asking Him to deal (gently!) with the dark cellar and enquiring about the grey area. Over the months that followed I became aware 
that something was happening in the cellar. The thick darkness was beginning to lighten until, on one very memorable occasion, there was a sudden burst of light in the centre that expelled the darkness, filled the whole area with a glorious, sunrise rosy, pink and a far wall went down. I had a great sense of freedom and knew that I had been released in an area of my life and given back the freedom of choice. I was immensely grateful and humbled by the way in which God had dealt with it without any judgement or shame.
The grey room, however, still puzzled me and I did not understand it. Months later I was sitting in the Airport Vineyard Church in Toronto. During a break in the service, before the ministry began, I fell into conversation with the stranger next to me. I found myself telling him the story of the three rooms and my puzzlement over the grey one. “Oh, but that’s easy,” he said, “that’s the lukewarm areas in your life.”
The moment he said it, it became so obvious to me that I was both astounded and quite cross! But I knew it was true and that, in a strange way, these were the hardest areas for me to deal with. Light was so good, darkness so obvious and repulsive, and the grey… well, just so easy to tolerate. No wonder that Jesus disliked it so much (Rev 3:16)
In it all, however, one overwhelming truth came home to me. There I was with light, darkness and greyness in my nature – and Jesus loved me. It was not the person wearing the mask of light and pretending that the other areas did not exist that He loved. He loved the real me and, as I wished to do when I first saw the grey room, He longed to be allowed to come in and make a difference. And He has.
Thank You Lord Jesus – so very much!
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