Dreams: A Peek Into What God Has for Us

What Are Dreams Really?

(C) 2012 Jade DeGood

How many times have I gone to sleep knowing that I will be battling for something, flying, seeing people I've never met, or journeying to a place I've never been (like an island)?  

I dream almost every night.  As a matter of fact, I dream such action packed dreams that I often wake up feeling tired.  After all, I was running around saving and protecting people or climbing mountains or flying over meadows or driving all over a major city.  Who wouldn't wake up feeling tired after a busy night like that?

Some of the things I've dreamed about were strange, like flying.  Not in an airplane (although I do dream about being at airports often!), but about actually flying, like Superman!  I have dreamed that I was in labor in childbirth, but I was also helping another laboring mom during my own delivery.  And most frequently, I dream that I'm a soldier battling and fighting the enemy.

• What do your dreams look like?
• Do you remember them?
• Are they vivid and real?
• What do you do when you wake up from a dream--good or bad?

When I wake up from a very real and vivid dream, I write it down as quickly as I can before I start forgetting it.  I keep a notepad and pen on my bedside table just for that.  Once I've written down the basic idea, I pray about it.  After writing your dreams down for several weeks, look back over them.  

• Is there a pattern?  
• Do you have a recurring dream?  
• Have you dreamed something and days, weeks, months or years later actually experienced that thing, that event in your dream?

See, the Lord gives us passions and visions of what our lives can be (as we've discussed with regard to vision boards), but He also gives us dreams, little glimpses of things to come in our lives.  That's the feeling of déjà vu that we sometimes experience.  Only God can tell you or show you what these dreams truly mean, and that is why praying about them is so vital to our understanding.

I used to be afraid of dreams in which I was flying.  But that's really just a rehearsal for our life in Heaven.  God is preparing us for that time.  It's really interesting and inspiring to consider all the glimpses He gives us in our waking lives and in our dreams!

Jacob had dreams.  Joseph had dreams.  Dreams are God's way of showing us things that we can't understand or perceive any other way.  In Genesis 28:12, Jacob dreamed of a ladder and the angels were going up and down it.  Genesis 37, 39, and 41 each speak of dreams that Joseph either had himself or was able to interpret through the revelation of the Lord.  Daniel interpreted dreams as well.  In 1 Samuel 28:6 it says that "Saul inquired of the Lord, the Lord did not answer him, either by dreams or by Urim or by the prophets."  In Matthew we read that an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph, Jesus' father, and told him to flee to Egypt.  Joel 2:28 says  “And it shall come to pass afterward that I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh; Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, Your old men shall dream dreams, Your young men shall see visions."  

Dreams are not to be feared.  As we read in the Scripture, it is often God's way of speaking to us.  So tonight, as you're getting ready for bed, ask the Lord to reveal something to you in your dreams, and thank Him for restful, peaceful sleep. 

Have a great week!!

Lyn~