A Beautiful Dream
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When Ellen G. White was a little girl, her name was Ellen Harmon.
She did not always know Jesus as her Savior, but through the preaching
of William Miller, the sermons at a camp meeting, and the help of
other godly people, she began to understand that Jesus loved her
and had died to save her. She gave her heart to Him, and she was
baptized into the Methodist church. She was beginning a new life
that would be a life of service for her Savior.
Although Ellen became a member of the church and attended meetings
regularly, including the prayer meeting, she had never prayed aloud
in public. Now it became impressed upon her mind that she should
seek God in prayer by praying out loud in the small prayer meetings.
She was very timid and felt that she could not do this, but whenever
she knelt alone to pray, this duty came to her mind.
Then one night she had a dream. She dreamed that she was sitting,
sadly thinking, with her face in her hands. “If Jesus were here
on earth,” she thought to herself, “I would go Him, throw myself
at His feet, and tell Him all my sufferings. He would not turn
away from me; He would have mercy on me, and I would love and serve
Him always.”
While she was thinking, the door opened, and a beautiful person
came in. He looked at her kindly and said, “Do you want to see
Jesus? He is here, and you can see Him if you desire. Take everything
you possess, and follow me.”
She gathered up her little possessions and joyfully followed her
guide. He led her to a steep, narrow stairway. As they began to
climb the stairs, he warned her to keep looking upward, so that
she would not become dizzy and fall. She saw others climbing the
stairs who looked down and fell before they reached the top.
Finally Ellen and her guide reached the last step. In front of
them was a closed door. Her guide told her to leave everything
she was carrying. She cheerfully laid her possessions down.
Then he opened the door and told her to go in. In a moment she
stood before Jesus. As He looked at her, she knew that He was acquainted
with her and with all her thoughts.
She tried to shield herself from His gaze, but He came near and
laid His hand on her head. “Fear not,” He said, as He smiled at
her. The sound of His sweet voice filled her heart with happiness.
She was overcome with joy and sank to the floor at His feet.
Ellen felt, in her dream, that she had reached the peace of heaven.
When she finally got up, the loving eyes of Jesus were on her, and
His beautiful smile filled her heart with gladness. She looked
at Him with holy reverence and love.
Her guide opened the door and they went out. He told her to pick
up again the possessions she had left there. Then he handed her
a green cord tightly coiled. He told her to place it next to her
heart, and when she wanted to see Jesus to take the cord out and
stretch it as far as she could. “Do not let it remain coiled very
long at a time,” the angel said, “or it will become knotted and
hard to straighten.”
Ellen placed the cord next to her heart and joyfully began her
journey back down the narrow stairs. As she went she praised the
Lord and told all the people she met where they could find Jesus.
When Ellen woke up she was happy. This dream gave her hope that
she could go to God in prayer whenever she desired. To her, the
green cord represented faith in God, and she understood how simple
it was to trust in Him. She was sure now, that Jesus loved her.
--Adapted from Ruth Wheeler, His Messenger, revised edition
(Nampa, Id.: Pacific Press Publishing Association, 2001), pp. 13-19.