That Was A Weird Dream!

 

THAT WAS A WEIRD DREAM!

Have you ever had a weird dream? Have you ever had a dream that seemed so real, that you didn’t realise you were actually dreaming? Have you ever had a dream that in your awake hours actually happened? Even a casual reading of the Bible reveals that many people had weird dreams where God was able to speak to even to the most godless person! This should give every believer, burdened with the eternal destiny of those who have not yet experienced the goodness and love of God, the inspiration to pray that God might just speak to those they are praying for by their dreams. 

But God came to Abimelech in a dream by night and said to him,
“Behold, you are a dead man because of the woman whom you have taken,
for she is a man’s wife.”
Genesis 20:4

​But it wasn’t just the godless that God spoke to in dreams. We have examples such as Jacob who heard from God in a dream (Gen. 28:11-17). His son, Joseph had several strategic dreams (and an ability to “interpret” dreams, Ge. 40:8-12; 41:12) (Gen. 37:5-11). The young king Solomon had a dramatic encounter with God in a dream (1Kings 3:5-15). Joseph, the guardian of the Christ child, was guided by God on several occasions through dreams.

But as he considered these things,
behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying,
“Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife,
for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.
Matthew 1:20

And being warned in a dream not to return to Herod,
they departed to their own country by another way.
¶ Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord
appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Rise, take the child
and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you,
for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him.”
Matthew 2:12-13

¶ But when Herod died, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a
dream to Joseph in Egypt…But when he heard that Archelaus was
reigning over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there,
and being warned in a dream he withdrew to the district of Galilee.
Matthew 2:19, 22

The apostle Paul heard from God in various ways, including dreams.

And a vision appeared to Paul in the night: a man of Macedonia
was standing there, urging him and saying,
“Come over to Macedonia and help us.”
Acts 16:9

And the Lord said to Paul one night in a vision, “
Do not be afraid, but go on speaking and do not be silent
Acts 18:9

God seems to delight in speaking to people in a dream in a way that would change their lives. This is why I think we should consider the divine use of ‘weird dreams’! I’ve already mentioned Abimelech (Gen. 20:4), but I have overlooked mentioning Pharaoh (Gen 41), Nebuchadnezzar (Dan. 2), and Governor Pilate’s wife (Matt. 27:19). In each of these instances those who had these divine dreams had no doubt that God had communicated to them. In some of these examples, God orchestrated for angels to enter into people’s dreams and converse with them. Perhaps in another Pastor’s Desk one I will explain why angels (or demons for that matters) cannot “read our minds” (only God can do this which is why we can silently pray with our spirit/mind 1Cor. 14:15) but for now, I want to point out that the bible does reveal that spirit beings have an ability to sow ideas into our minds – but only God’s angels can speak to a person in their dreams. Therefore, I propose that we join together and ask God to speak in dreams to those pre-Christians we are praying for in a way that will lead them to encounter the goodness and love of God.

Questions for discussion:

1. Why do you think God has so frequently spoken to people in dreams rather than by other methods?
2. Why is someone more likely to accept what they dream as being a genuine message from God?
3. Can we pray for God to speak to people in dreams?

Your pastor,

Andrew

Let me know what you think below in the comment section and feel free to share this someone who might benefit from this Pastor’s Desk.