When the Steps Disappeared

Last night, I had a dream that felt heavy in a holy way…one of those dreams that doesn’t fade when you wake up, because it carries weight, urgency, and love all at once. When your spirit just knows that your creator is communicating with you.

In the dream, I was in a very large church, and I wasn’t attending a service, I was working. There were tables everywhere, and I was standing at one of them. On the table in front of me was a phone.

The phone rang.

I answered it and said, “Hello.”

Immediately, I could hear sorrow in the voice on the other end. I knew the moment I heard it — this was not a casual call. It was a pastor I love deeply. His voice was heavy with grief. I could tell he was crying. Then he said my name.

“Irene.”

My heart dropped. I stood up right away and asked, almost without thinking, “Is it Melissa?” I don’t know anyone with that name, that we both know.

Something in me knew this was serious.

I said, “Hold on. Please hold on. Let me find a more private phone.”

I didn’t want to respond to this kind of sorrow in public. I didn’t want distractions. I wanted to answer the call the right way, with care, honor, and privacy. Because the pain in his voice felt real and deep.

So I started running, in search of a private space to talk to him.

I ran through a building I didn’t recognize, moving quickly through room after room, searching for a quiet place. The whole time, my heart stayed on the call. I remember thinking, Is he still holding on the line? Please don’t hang up. Please stay there.

Then suddenly, as I was running, I entered a church I recognized. How did I get here?

It was a church my husband and I attended for many years.

It felt strange to be there. I remember thinking, How did I end up here? I felt love for the building and memories it carried, but I had to get back. I felt heartsick. How am I supposed to answer the call now?

But standing there, my heart wasn’t on the building or the past. All I could think about was the sorrow I had heard and the love I have for the person on the phone.

So I ran out the door.

I was trying to find my way back, back to my church, back to the table, back to the phone, back to the call. I kept wondering, Is he still holding on? Is he still waiting?

My heart was racing.

Then the scene changed.

I found myself on a trail. The trail led to a bridge. I crossed it, and beyond the bridge were wooden steps. The steps were very long, and I began running down them. It seemed like I had been running a long while.

But as I ran, I suddenly realized something that stopped me.

The steps weren’t leading to land.

They led straight into water.

It was a huge body of water. I felt alarmed and said something like, “Why do these steps lead into the water?”

The water was muddy like a river, but it moved with the force of ocean waves. I was alarmed and confused. I asked myself, “how I am going to get back to his call”

I turned around to look back up at the steps I had just been running on.

They were gone.

There was no way back.

And in that moment, I expected fear, but that’s not what happened.

I turned toward the water… and I entered it calmly.

Then I woke up.

I couldn’t shake the weight of it.

This dream wasn’t about confusion or loss. It felt like a picture of calling, intercession, transition, and trust.

It showed me the urgency of answering a call when someone is carrying sorrow.

It showed me how deeply God weaves our past seasons into who we become — without calling us to live there again.

And it showed me what happens when the steps disappear… and faith is all that remains.

The calm at the end is what stays with me the most.

Because the water was deep.

The steps were gone.

And yet, I wasn’t afraid.

Sometimes God doesn’t lead us around the deep.

Sometimes He leads us into it… not to overwhelm us, but to teach us to trust Him completely.

If you’re reading this and you feel like the steps you once stood on are gone… if you’re being asked to trust without clarity… I want you to know you’re not alone.

Calm doesn’t come from knowing what’s next.

It comes from knowing Who is with you and trusting Him.

Irene Whitesides🦋

“God speaks again and again, though people do not recognize it. He speaks in dreams, in visions of the night, when deep sleep falls on people as they lie in their beds.” Job 33:14-15 (TLB)