Never ignore the dreams you have while you sleep. God may be speaking to you. Everyone should understand how God speaks in dreams and visions. It helps us to have an advantage when He reveals things about our lives and others through these.
God uses dreams to guide you every now and again. We live in a time where the spirit of God has been poured out on all flesh, as explained Joel 2:28 and Acts 2:17. He pours it out on all flesh believers and unbelievers alike. ‘All Flesh!’, He says. The Holy spirit is still pouring out.
This means God speaks to us all, in dreams every now and again. Even more to His Children who believe in Christ. How you perceive it is based on your relationship with Him. King Nebuchadnezzar, for example, was a non-believer and he could not perceive his dreams as the bible narrates in the book of Daniel chapter 2. Only Daniel could perceive and interpret it. Pharoah was a non-believer and yet he had a dream. Only Joseph could perceive and interpret it Genesis 41.
Understanding how God speaks in dreams
The Bible says, For God may speak in one way, or in another, yet man does not perceive it. In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falls upon men, While slumbering on their beds, then He opens the ears of men, and seals their instruction. Job 33:14-16.
This bible verse clearly shows that God still speaks to man in dreams and visions even today. However, not everyone discerns God’s voice or message in their dreams. I pray that you are able to comprehend when God is speaking to you about your life and that of others, to the Glory of God.
God speaks to you in dreams. But so does the devil. How then can you distinguish between the dreams from God and those that the enemy brings? One sure way to tell if God has spoken is the repitition of dreams. We see this in v14 where He says again and again. I’ll explain more on this later in this post.
When God speaks, He may speak directly or can use symbols, objects, numbers and colors that are congruant with what resonates with His Word or your environment. This is why it’s important to study and know how biblical dream interpretation works in the context of your dreams.
What do I do when I have a dream?
It is always good practise to write down every dream you have as soon as you wake up. This not only helps you remember, but also identify the keys elements that enable you to interpret your dreams accurately.
Once you have written down your dream, the nect thing you should do is pray. When Joseph interpreted he said, ‘it is God’s business to interpret dreams, not man’s ability.’ God will give you the interpretation, good or bad.
There are many examples in the Bible of men and women, who had dreams that were inspired by the spirit of God. While some dreams are soulish and others are of the devil. It’s important for you to take note of how God speaks in dream.
Now back to our foundational bible verse in Job 33:14-16. It shows us that a good percentage of the dreams you have had over the years was actually God speaking to you. But what’s more interesting is that you may have not have perceived it. But it’s not too late to be able to start understanding that God actually is communicating to you, every now and again. When you sleep. Whether warning you, directing you, or simply giving a message you need to be conscious of. He seals your instruction in dreams or visions of the night.
One such example is Paul, in his journey preaching the gospel, God gave him dreams, that gave him direction, including others who warned him.
The bible says, “During the night Paul had a vision of a man of Macedonia standing and begging him, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” After Paul had seen the vision, we got ready at once to leave for Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.” Acts 16:9
At one point Paul was really afraid during his journey preaching the gospel to the nations. But God reassured him that everything would be fine. God can reassure you too, in dreams. Sometimes even give you ideas, of business or something you’ve been trying to figure or solve for a while. That answer can come in a dream.
Truly God does speak. At one point the Lord gave Paul his next mission, in a dream. One night the Lord spoke to Paul in a vision: “Do not be afraid; keep on speaking, do not be silent. For I am with you, and no one is going to attack and harm you, because I have many people in this city.” Acts 18:9
As we have seen, our lives can be made much simpler without wasting time trying to figure it out. Don’t ignore your dreams. They are pointers from the Lord.