A Key to a Castle

Sailing in the Irish Sea, I dreamed (three and a half years ago) that I was in an old place. It felt and looked like a castle, an old keep, but it also seemed vaguely like a monastery and the stewards seemed like monks, but not quite. The people who administered the place were called “stewards” in the dream. 

 

 

    I was sitting in a lecture setting inside the place and a man spoke. Before he spoke, I was able to “see” with my minds eye at least nine generations of stewards, and this man was one of them. He had light colored hair, and was nice in appearance. The noticeable trait he carried was that he seemed tired. 

He said, to a large group of we “outsiders,” that this place we sat, this castle, was to be given to a new steward. The “men” called before him were faithful to keep the place, but now that was coming to an end. The people in the audience were there to be candidates for the new stewardship award. 

The scene then changed and the location within the castle changed. We now sat in a darker place for the audience, and a wall separated us. Then a key was held by the man in charge. He said “Now I will pick the new steward.” At the same time, God spoke to me in my heart, not out loud but through a true knowing. I was to be picked. 

So, I sat down and was quiet, holding my hand out. The others, however, eager to receive the key, stood and leaned over the short wall and stretched out their hands. So now my “chances” seemed slim but I knew. The steward put the large key into the hand of one man on my left, then took it out before releasing it. Then to my right, he actually set the key and released it into the hand of someone else near me standing over me as I patiently and quietly sat with my hand lower and harder to find. This recipient seemed very happy. I knew better.

The next move was very quick-the older steward went back over and took the key out of the hand of this man. Now again, many hands stretched out for it. Instantly and unexpected by the others, he put it in my hand. I looked at this key. It was huge, key to a very big door. It had a sort of metal cylindrical cup on the end of it with a lid on top. The lid was opened and nothing was inside. 

Two days later I found myself in a castle at the special invitation of the Lord of a manor that was many generations old. He was giving a private tour to a group of us, yet this was unusual, since they never gave public tours as a policy. I was introduced to him as someone who raises money for special projects and who is interested in building and preserving community, both spiritual and physical together. He asked for help, as in the dream! He was perhaps the 15th generation of lords who owned and lived in this castle, and he wanted to find a way to preserve the history and the land. His son was not interested in the place. 

Most old castles were being taken down and this one needed major repair or it was going to be lost, faded as in the dream. An interesting side note, and not without interest, this real castle had a wall around 2,000 acres of land. I asked why the wall was built initially? The Lord of the manor said, “It was built by the lord during the potato famine. He wanted to save the lives of the starving poor people of that area , so he paid a penny a day to workers to build a wall, a wall he really did not need.” The people loved the lords of that manor and still do for doing this. He took their best interests above his. 

The dream interpretation was somewhat literal at first, since I wound up in a real castle looking for a new steward. I did not get the key, not yet. I feel it also represents a generation of leaders, referred to in the dreams and visions adjoining this one on leadership. 

God wants faithful leaders and He is going to choose them:

 “‘And I will give you shepherds after my own heart, who will feed you with knowledge and understanding…” Jeremiah 3:15

⁷ “And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write, 
‘These things says He who is holy, He who is true, “He who has the key of David, He who opens and no one shuts, and shuts and no one opens”: ⁸ “I know your works. See, I have set before you an open door, and no one can shut it; for you have a little strength, have kept My word, and have not denied My name. ⁹ Indeed I will make those of the synagogue of Satan, who say they are Jews and are not, but lie—indeed I will make them come and worship before your feet, and to know that I have loved you. ¹⁰ Because you have kept My command to persevere, I also will keep you from the hour of trial which shall come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth. ¹¹ Behold, I am coming quickly! Hold fast what you have, that no one may take your crown. ¹² He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he shall go out no more. I will write on him the name of My God and the name of the city of My God, the New Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My God. And I will write on him My new name. 
¹³ “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”’ Revelation 3: 7-13 NASV

I feel this dream prophesies the changing of the guard, and it also seems to set the stage for trouble, trouble that is sent to test people on the earth. Many have already been tested and some of us will be needed as servant leaders, people who have the best interests of our charges at heart. I represented the people in Rev. 3 who have a little strength left from a long battle with evil forces. The evil was religious in nature. I was not strong in relation to the others in the dream. I was chosen out FOR my weakness, making me qualified after passing a period of testing. I represent the coming new leaders in the dream, a passing of the guard.

Tags: Leadership