What Do Your Dreams Mean?

Last week, I did a post on What Do You Dream About. This post was mostly about what you think about or daydream about during the day. The post got me thinking about all the dreamers mentioned in the Bible. People who had a vision and could see what the Lord wanted them to do or accomplish. Then, there were a few people whom the Lord spoke to through their dreams. These were times when the Lord came to them while they were asleep.

I love to daydream and think about crazy things. But I don’t have the “mind’s eye” and can’t actually see things that aren’t in front of me. Some of you lucky people are able to think about standing on the beach and watching the sunset, and you can “see” the scene in your mind. Not me! All I see in darkness or shades of gray, no beach, no waves, no sunset.

Even though I am not able to see things in my mind when I am awake, I can see things in my nighttime dreams. I have woken up many times, thrilled to know it was only a dream. And there are times when I’ve woken up so disappointed because everything was just a dream. Sometimes, I wake up and remember I had a dream, but I can’t remember what the dream was about.

I’m sure all of you have read the account about the birth of Jesus. We all know how an Angel appeared to Mary and told her she would be the mother of the son of God. Do you remember how Mary’s fiance, Joseph, reacted? He thought Mary had been unfaithful to him and planned to quietly remove himself from her. But the Lord intervened with a dream.

Matthew 1:20

²⁰ But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.

Thank goodness Joseph believed his dream. Joseph could have caved under the peer pressure since you know everyone was talking about Mary. Had Joseph not believed, Jesus could have been without an earthly father.

Another Joseph in the Bible had a dream, and he told his brothers about the dream.

Genesis 37:5-7

⁵ Joseph had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers, they hated him all the more. ⁶ He said to them, “Listen to this dream I had: ⁷ We were binding sheaves of grain out in the field when suddenly my sheaf rose and stood upright, while your sheaves gathered around mine and bowed down to it.”

Genesis 37:9-10

⁹ Then he had another dream, and he told it to his brothers. “Listen,” he said, “I had another dream, and this time the sun and moon and eleven stars were bowing down to me.” ¹⁰ When he told his father as well as his brothers, his father rebuked him and said, “What is this dream you had? Will your mother and I and your brothers actually come and bow down to the ground before you?”

Joseph’s dreams didn’t shield him from betrayal and adversity since the dream got him in a lot of trouble. He was thrown in a pit and then sold into slavery, and it was his brothers who did that to him. Do you think he ever wished he had kept his dream to himself and kept his mouth shut?

Joseph went through a lot after his dream, but he stayed faithful to the Lord and withstood all of the trials. Because of his faithfulness, he was able to lead a nation out of famine and save his family.

Solomon, the son of King David, also had a dream where the Lord spoke to him.

1 Kings 3:5-15

⁵ At Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon during the night in a dream, and God said, “Ask for whatever you want me to give you.” ⁶ Solomon answered, “You have shown great kindness to your servant, my father David, because he was faithful to you and righteous and upright in heart. You have continued this great kindness to him and have given him a son to sit on his throne this very day. ⁷ “Now, Lord my God, you have made your servant king in place of my father David. But I am only a little child and do not know how to carry out my duties. ⁸ Your servant is here among the people you have chosen, a great people, too numerous to count or number. ⁹ So give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong. For who is able to govern this great people of yours?” ¹⁰ The Lord was pleased that Solomon had asked for this. ¹¹ So God said to him, “Since you have asked for this and not for long life or wealth for yourself, nor have asked for the death of your enemies but for discernment in administering justice, ¹² I will do what you have asked. I will give you a wise and discerning heart, so that there will never have been anyone like you, nor will there ever be. ¹³ Moreover, I will give you what you have not asked for—both wealth and honor—so that in your lifetime you will have no equal among kings. ¹⁴ And if you walk in obedience to me and keep my decrees and commands as David your father did, I will give you a long life.” ¹⁵ Then Solomon awoke—and he realized it had been a dream. He returned to Jerusalem, stood before the ark of the Lord’s covenant and sacrificed burnt offerings and fellowship offerings. Then he gave a feast for all his court.

Solomon asked the Lord for a discerning heart. He knew he was young and that he would need help to be King. All my life, I’ve heard that Solomon asked for wisdom, but it sounds like he was already pretty wise by his request.

These three men had the Lord talk to them through a dream. They were ordinary men, yet they believed in their dreams. Have you ever awakened from a dream and thought the Lord was talking to you? Would you believe it if He did?

The Lord can still use our dreams to talk to us. I hope to hear from the Lord in my dreams, and I hope I am wise enough to understand and believe it when He does.

To GOD Goes The Glory!

Have A Blessed Day!