20/20 Vision Day 17 - Your Dreams

You may have never thought about stewarding your dream life, but encourage you to keep a pad, pen and nightlight at your bedside.  Jot down a little of your dream.  You can fill in the rest later.  Sometimes you can go back to sleep and finish the dream.  

There can be many reasons for dreams, many types of dreams.  Troublesome worries, unfinished business of the day, indigestion, lack of health and unknown issues, pregnancy or change of hormones, poor ventilation in the room, or noise in the night can each provoke dreams.  There is much technical research about dreams, the activity of the brain, while we sleep, and exactly when dreams occur in the sleep cycle. However, visions that we get in our sleep, better known as dreams, can also be a message sent by God.

“God gave these four young men an unusual aptitude for understanding every aspect of literature and wisdom. And God gave Daniel the special ability to interpret the meanings of visions and dreams.” Dan 1:17 Dreams and their understandings are gifts from God.

Here are some examples of dreams and their purposes:

• Guidance, answers from God about situations: 1Sam 28:15 “Why have you disturbed me by calling me back?” Samuel asked Saul. “Because I am in deep trouble,” Saul replied. “The Philistines are at war with me, and God has left me and won’t reply by prophets or dreams. So, I have called for you to tell me what to do.”

• Preparation: The story about Joseph, when his brothers appeared to ask to buy food. They bowed down before him. ^“And he remembered the dreams he’d had about them many years before. He said to them, “You are spies! You have come to see how vulnerable our land has become.” Gen 42:9NLT

• Conviction: “But that night God came to Abimelech in a dream and told him, “You are a dead man, for that woman you have taken is already married!” Gen 20:3.

• Protection: “After the wise men were gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up! Flee to Egypt with the child and his mother,” the angel said. “Stay there until I tell you to return, because Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.”  “When Herod died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt.” Matt 2:13,19

• Direction: That night Paul had a dream: A Macedonian stood on the far shore and called across the sea, “Come over to Macedonia and help us!” The dream gave Paul his map. We went to work at once getting things ready to cross over to Macedonia. All the pieces had come together. We knew now for sure that God had called us to preach the good news to the Europeans.” Acts 16:9 MSG

Father God, we are so thankful for your persistence to care for us even in our sleep. When we make no time to listen in our day, you persist and take time to speak to us.  Help us listen, Lord.