Dreams, Loss, and the Unbreakable Faith of Jarena Lee
“The Widow’s God”
“I was now left alone in the world, with two infant children … no other dependence than the promise of Him who hath said, ‘I will be the widow’s God, and a Father to the fatherless.’” — Jarena Lee
After the blazing call that set her preaching ministry in motion, Jarena Lee’s faith was tested in quieter, harder ways — not in the pulpit but in the long, shadowed valleys of loss. In her later writings, she tells of illness, widowhood, and divine dreams that guided her through grief.
Dreams in the Night: God’s Hidden Lessons
In 1811, Jarena married Rev. Joseph Lee, pastor of the A.M.E. Society at Snow Hill, near Philadelphia. Moving away from her beloved church community was painful. She felt isolated and restless, urging her husband to return to the city. Then came a dream.
“I saw a flock of sheep, fair and white, and a man dressed in white said, ‘Joseph Lee must take care of these sheep, or the wolf will come and devour them.’”
She awoke convinced that her husband’s calling was sacred, and her role was to support it. The vision restored her peace. Even in discouragement, God’s Spirit was near — teaching her that obedience in small places is as holy as preaching in large ones.
The Cloud and the Sun: Healing through Promise
Not long after, Jarena fell dangerously ill. Confined to bed, she still spoke to every visitor about repentance and mercy, and many were moved to tears. Her body was weak, but her spirit burned with a single desire — to preach the Gospel.
Then another dream came:
“I thought I saw the sun rise … then a dense black cloud hid its rays … but it burst forth again with renewed splendor.”
She understood it as the story of her own life — conversion (the sunrise), suffering (the dark cloud), and renewal (the shining light). As she prayed, she felt God whisper to her heart, “Thou shalt be restored to thy health again, and worship God in full purpose of heart.”
Her healing came just as promised. And for six years afterward, she lived in what she called “baptisms of the Spirit such as mortality could scarcely bear.”
The Widow’s God
Joy soon gave way to heartbreak. Within six years, five loved ones died, including her husband. Jarena was left alone with two infants — one only six months old. Yet even here, her confidence in God deepened:
“He helps the stranger in distress, the widow and the fatherless, and grants the prisoner sweet release.”
In her grief, she found a God who not only sustains life but enters into sorrow. “Once I was young, but now I am old,” she wrote, “yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread.”
That testimony — simple, steadfast, and proven in pain — would carry her through the rest of her life and into history as a preacher of enduring hope.
Faith Refined by Fire
Jarena Lee’s dreams were not escapes from reality; they were the Spirit’s interpretation of her life — suffering illuminated by grace. She found meaning in her affliction, purpose in her pain, and courage to keep proclaiming the Gospel to “the fallen sons and daughters of Adam’s race.”
When she could not see the way forward, she remembered the God of her visions — a God who turns clouds into light and loss into testimony.
Reflection
- Where has God met you in loss — through a dream, a word, or a quiet assurance?
- How might your own pain become someone else’s healing?
- Do you trust, as Jarena Lee did, that no circumstance can erase God’s call upon your life?
Prayer
O Lord,
You who speak through dreams and whispers,
steady our hearts in seasons of loss.
When clouds hide Your face, help us believe the sun still shines.
Be the Widow’s God, the Father to the fatherless,
and the strength of all who wait for Your mercy.
Turn our darkness into dawn,
that we too may rise and worship You in full purpose of heart.
Amen.
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