Hidden Bella is a dream parable about what it means to be supernaturally hidden. Does Bella (as I named her) truly exist? Not sure. This is a shortened version of my full dream.

Hidden Bella^©

Bella was beautiful, just like her name. She worked her way up the ranks of an American spy agency and lived a life of danger and intrigue. However, her world changed when she unintentionally became aware of a leaked highly covert operation.

The secret? A deadly nerve agent. After the briefest handshake with a contaminated glove, the unsuspecting victim would drop dead within five minutes.

Bella feared for her life. After all, her employer would never accept a resignation letter from someone who knew so many secrets. Her fate was sealed. The Agency’s top brass would send a “cleaner” to find and eliminate her. With no other choice, she hid herself.

Bella had no ties to America. As such, she ended up in Eastern Europe with a new identity. Bella became Anna. Once a brown-eyed brunette, she transitioned to a blonde with blue contact lenses. Additionally, she learned the local language and immersed herself in the new culture. Her landlady, Agnes, was the closest relationship Bella had experienced since her teen years when she lost her parents and younger brother in a car accident. Bella unashamedly swore Agnes to secrecy, giving false information. She shared nothing that would ever risk exposing her true identity because she trusted no one.

Hidden in Plain Sight

The Agency sent their best “tracker” to find Bella. Anton, her ex-boyfriend, worked for the same organization. He had spent years hiding Bella and the identity of other spies. Now he was tasked with finding her. If anyone could locate Bella, it was he. But years passed.

There were two dangerous encounters with Anton (not shared in this abbreviated version), but she managed to slip away unnoticed each time.

Bella worked as a file clerk in a small medical laboratory. The job paid little, but it suited her new lifestyle. One day, Anton unexpectedly entered the lab. It had been five years, but she recognized him immediately and still admired his magnetic smile. She also recalled her pain when he betrayed her trust with a redheaded co-worker. Their intimacy died then. Still, they maintained a professional working relationship.

She avoided direct eye contact. How did he find her? Was she careless? Her mind raced as she calmly introduced herself as Anna and offered her assistance.

Something about Anna seemed familiar to Anton. She was the doppelganger of Bella, but she was different in style and mannerisms. For her part, Bella gave a stellar performance. Her acquired, heavy-accented, broken English took years to perfect. If he suspected her, he did not reveal it. However, she became unnerved when he returned to the lab twice to see her.  

The dream became lucid during another dangerous encounter with Anton (not shared in this abbreviated version). I stepped in and “stood” between Bella and Anton, hiding Bella on an Eastern European sidewalk to shield her from his view. It worked, and she escaped again.

A New Hidden Place for Bella

Sometime later, Bella met and began a relationship with Yuri. Nevertheless, the information about herself that she divulged to him was as untruthful as Agnes’ version. Yuri only knew her as Anna and learned not to ask too many questions.

Yuri invited Anna (Bella) to church one Sunday. She had visited church with her grandmother many years earlier as a child in the Midwest where she grew up but had not thought much about it since. She adored Yuri and went only to please him.

The Sunday sermon was on Psalm 91, but most of the message was about a relationship with Jesus.  Something about the words that she heard touched the core of her heart. She had not felt safe since she became a spy, and her whole life was a series of charades, falsehoods, and lies. She yearned for the new beginning and permanent home promised in the Gospels.

Without hesitation, she headed to the altar when the minister extended the invitation. Bella wept as she gave her life to Jesus Christ. Every evil and immoral act she ever committed was washed away with His Precious Blood. Immediately, a tremendous invisible burden lifted from her shoulders. She felt an indescribable peace she had never before experienced. It was as if the cloak of fear, suspicion, and shame she had worn for several years departed.

Hidden Bella means hidden beauty (1 Peter 3:3-4). She started her new life with Jesus Christ with the same urgency and intensity as when she changed her identity from Bella to Anna. She devoured her Bible daily and attended Sunday church and a weekly home Bible study. Along with her inward transformation, her countenance changed. She allowed her dark hair to grow, and her soft brown eyes smiled at everyone she met.

He is Our Hiding Place

Life was blissful until she exited a local food market one Saturday morning. Anton was walking towards her. Frantically, she glanced around her. There was nowhere to hide. She felt the blood drain from her face. Her entire being went numb. She was unquestionably Bella again, with her brown hair and brown eyes. Would she lose her freedom and life after fifteen years on the run? (My own heart stood still as I watched their meeting.)

She softly exhaled the Name of Jesus and surrendered her fate to Him.

Anton looked straight into her eyes and smiled politely with the slightest nod. For some unexplainable reason, he continued walking and entered the food market. It was as if he did not see her.

God had hidden Bella in His Presence. She was truly safe!

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You shall hide them in the secret place of Your presence from the plots of man (Ps 31:20a)