The Dream

I am running from the enemy.  I hide in a craggy mesh of brittle branches, knowing the cover isn't sufficient enough to protect my hot pink tennis shoes from showing.  They find me!  I bribe them with food, steal their gun, and keep running.  I enter a school that I have never seen.  The halls are currently empty.  I try to find an exit, but I am met with a brick wall.  I turn to the left and find a huge metal door.  Pushing it open, I gasp and find a deep cavernous river that I would never be able to enter.  Frustrated, I turn the other direction, find another door, and am met with the same turquoise water.

Gun still in hand, I turn to find that the children are mingling in the halls.  I never wanted this gun, I just wanted it to never be used against me!  A teacher spots me.  Then the gun.

I bolt awake.

What do you make of dreams?  Are you a dreamer?  Do you remember your dreams?  I think dreams have been given a bad rap since the days of psychiatrists Freud and Jung.  But, why does the church seem to have dismissed dreaming?  I think God can speak to us in our dreams!  We see him do it through Biblical characters such as Joseph, Jacob, and Daniel.  We are just as much God's children as the people in the Bible, so if God wants to speak to us in our subconscious, we should welcome it!

I think like in so many other areas, Satan sneaks in, takes a Godly thing, and corrupts it because he wants to share in the glory of the Most High.  He is the counterfeit, and culture has told us that dreams are either nonsense or too connected to the inner psyche.  If we refuse to pay attention to our dreams, then we just might be missing out on a huge blessing from God.

What if dreams are another way that God speaks to us?

About ten years ago, I needed clear direction from God concerning an issue.  I felt pretty certain what we were supposed to do, but I needed further assurance.  I asked God if he would allow Eric to dream and remember the dream...and that God might provide a message through that dream.  I knew it would be from the Lord because Eric can rarely remember his dreams.  At the time, I was afraid to ask that I would be the one to dream, because I was terrified of manufacturing an answer that would be biased.

The next morning, sure enough, Eric remembered his dream.  The details of the dream confirmed in my heart what I knew was going on.  It gave me the assurance that we needed to leave a certain part of our lives behind.

The world of dreaming is such a vast expanse and I don't pretend to know everything about it, but the prophet Joel tells us that in the last days, God will pour out His spirit on all flesh and the young men will see visions and the old men will dream dreams.

We are in the last days, people.  Do you have visions?  Are you dreaming?  I have a friend that has had a beautiful vision.  I have another friend that dreams prophetically.  There is nothing she can do to prevent what is about to occur, but she is able to cover that person in prayer for what is about to happen.

The book "Something More" by Catherine Marshall gives some guidelines on this thing called dreaming. First, you shouldn't go to sleep without asking Jesus to provide his power, direction, and protection.  Second, the dream material is almost always about the dreamer and not someone else.  Third, consider writing down your dreams immediately upon waking and asking the Holy Spirit if he has anything to speak through the dream.

So, back to my dream.  I am running, hiding, and met with either a wall or a cavernous river.

What is God saying?