A Dream to Wake You Up
The Bible defines a dream in Job 33:15, “In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falls on people as they slumber in their beds…” The Bible says several things in this one verse. First, a dream is a vision of the night. The verse also teaches that a dream occurs when deep sleep falls upon men. According to the Bible, a vision is something that occurs when a man is awake, while a dream is something that occurs when a man is asleep. Some who study dreams say that we are always dreaming when we sleep, but we only remember the dreams right before we awake. This would actually fit with the Scriptures in several cases where men remember a dream that actually woke them up.
A Dream of Caution
God can use dreams to warn you of a situation that is to come. This might be a bad situation that He knows you’re getting ready to go through or a toxic situation in your life. While dreams can warn us of danger, it is important that we are cautious and that we not become too dependent on our dreams. Some people expect to be directed by them on a daily basis and this pattern can set you up for error and deception. You must be able to determine if your dream is of God or of the flesh. False dreams can come from our mind’s attempt to lead us away from God’s principles and precepts. In fact, false dreams can convey darkness’ own prophetic messages. Soulish dreams in particular speak to the heart’s fleshly desires.
A Dream For Instruction
God not only opens our ears, but also seals instruction through our dreams so that we are notified of our faults, counseled in wrong direction and given instruction on best ways to move forward from these circumstances. The Bible tells us, “He may speak in their ears and terrify them with warnings” (Job 33:16). God instructs through dreams, imprints upon the soul and through lasting impressions in a similar way that a seal is used to make an imprint in wax on a document. We can learn a lot through these instructions. We just have to be open to listening to what He is saying. Second Timothy 3:16 says, “All Bible Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right.” That same instruction can be applied through your dreams.
A Dream to Reveal Something You Couldn’t See Before
Dreams can appear to be very real. Sometimes you may even wake up mad, sad or scared, yet you realizes after a while that it was just a dream and you settle down. The Bible speaks on this in Isaiah 29:8 when it says, “It will be as when a hungry man dreams – and behold, he is eating; But when he awakens, his hunger is not satisfied, or, as when a thirst man dreams – and behold, he is drinking, but when he awakens, behold, he is faint and his thirst is not quenched.” You may dream of eating or drinking, but when you awake you are still empty. That’s the reality of your dreams. It may have appeared real, but it was not. The same goes for visions; they can be so real in our minds, but not a reality; however, God may be trying to tell us something through that vision.
A Dream to Correct Your Listening
God might be sending you a dream to change the way you hear what He is saying to you. It is common for people to be stubborn to the messages God is sending and ignore what He might be telling them. We aren’t always open to hearing God’s voice because most of the time with our busy and hectic schedules, we close our ears and don’t take the time to feel the Holy Spirit tugging at our hearts. While God can speak to us when we set aside time for prayer and meditation, He also speaks to us sometimes when it’s inconvenient, like the times when you can barely hear yourself think. But we must be prepared. During our dreams, God bypasses the shell we have surrounding our hearts that can make us dull of hearing. We then have the listening to hear what the Spirit is saying.
A Dream to Bypass Pride
Pride by definition is a feeling or deep pleasure from one’s own achievements, the achievements of those with whom one is closely associated, or from qualities or possessions that are widely admired Pride covers the sinful intentions of our hearts. When we hide behind our pride, it’s easy for us to be deceived. We often learn during our sleep that although we have not given into temptation, there still remains a struggle to overcome sin in our hearts. Because dreams are often formed from thoughts and images in our minds, they often show us the sin in our hearts that our conscious minds refuse to acknowledge and reveal the struggle within us. God ultimately desires that we be dead to sin, and not allow it to reign in our bodies, hearts and minds.
A Dream to Break Down Our Walls of Self-Defense
Our dreams are produced through our subconscious minds. As a result, they normally bypass our self-defense mechanisms and our preconceived notions about our strengths and weaknesses. We often build walls that hide who we really are. We might not have made the grade we wanted, gotten the position we wanted, or won the competition we were training for. We felt the shame of disappointing others or ourselves. We don’t want others to see our weaknesses or failures so we start making excuses or blaming. The truth is, sometimes the walls we build up keep truth and growth opportunities from getting in. God might be trying to use a particular dream to break down your walls of self-defense that block us from seeing our true potential. Our dreams go right to the truth of the matter.
