Dreams. I write about them. I have some thoughts to share.
One thing to be cautious about is trying to see a meaning from God in every dream. I believe that our own brains create dreams, that Satan can whisper story elements in our sleeping ears and influence our dreams, and that God can communicate through dreams. So, I’ve found that dreams aren’t necessarily a “safe place.” Discernment is needed as much or more in our sleeping hours as in our waking ones. Dreams are hard work where one needs to look at them with a critical eye and be in prayer about them with an open heart toward God.
Spiritual warfare rages around us, whether or not we are aware of it. Each individual human is involved somehow because we make choices every minute. I believe those choices are influenced by this unseen battle for our souls. Matthew 10:16 says to be as wise as serpents and as innocent as doves in the midst of mankind as they hate us because of our association with Jesus. Satan also hates us, whether or not we associate ourselves with Jesus.
I like all of John 10, but verse 10 is especially good to remember. Jesus said, “The thief comes only so that he can steal and kill and destroy; I have come so that they may have life, and have it abundantly.” — John 10:10 (LEB)
It is noteworthy to me that a thief often comes at night, under cover of darkness. Our sleeping hours in this world are no “safe zone.” Having a nightmare should prove that, I suppose, but many dreams are pleasant.
I also know that I don’t need any outside influence in order to be led astray. I agree with what is said in Romans 7:15-20. I echo verse 18, “For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out.” (ESV)
One reason I say this about not needing any outside influence to go astray is because we can get focused on ourselves or on the enemy or even on spiritual warfare itself rather than where we need to keep our eyes — on Jesus. As the battle rages, focus on Him. The same thing needs to happen about dreams.
Just like in my waking thoughts, I need Holy Spirit to stand guard at the gates regarding what I remember from the night hours.
- Is this a good thing to hear?
- Is this a good thing to say to others?
- Is this a good thing to devote brain power to and ponder it for hours?
“Finally, brothers, whatever things are true, whatever things are honorable, whatever things are right, whatever things are pure, whatever things are pleasing, whatever things are commendable, if there is any excellence of character and if anything praiseworthy, think about these things.” — Philippians 4:8 (LEB)
So, the first thing I do when I remember a dream is ask myself if it was just a plain ol’ dream. Sometimes, it’s the late night pizza talking!
Second thing I ask myself is if I want it to mean something and, if so, what are my motives and feelings behind that. I prefer brutal honesty. I know my nature, and I know my past. So, my prayer is usually, “If there’s anything in this dream from which I should learn, please bring it out to me. If not, help me forget it and move on.”
A good portion of dreams I remember were simply for me. Even the latest dream I wrote about [“Teaching Moments“] was for me in that I learned from it. I chose to write about it here because it showed a contrast between my human nature and God’s character. We humans are never as pure as we think we are. I am prone to mistakes and pride-born sin, even when I think I am doing good. That nature can affect how we teach others, and this latest dream demonstrates that nicely. It was a good story, so I shared it here.
I’m thankful for my hubby in heightening my caution about dreams. He knows my past, too.
When hubby and I were dating, I was running from God and right into New Age with a heavy influence from my research on the hand-picked beliefs from some Native American tribes. I thought it was still good because “the Great Spirit” was often mentioned. Sure, “mother Earth” was in there, too, but all that meant to me was that all of creation is influenced by and speaks for the Great Spirit. We are all one, so we need to take care of one another as such. The bear and the tree are my brothers. I thought it was basically the same concept as what the Bible tries to get across — love. Treat everyone and everything with love seems like a decent route toward achieving world peace.
Plus, I’d witnessed a lot of unusual things in my life, and I remembered those. I was trying to figure out how those things happened. I was falling for the lie that I had “powers.” One of those was knowing what was going to happen. The first “public” incident of this was when I was a pre-teen.
A friend and I were walking down an alley behind the fire station. Our view of the cross street ahead was blocked by buildings on both sides. Yet, as we walked, an image popped into my head. I said to my friend, “I’ve been here before. It’s like I’ve dreamed this. If I remember right, a green station wagon will drive by soon.” I pointed my finger with a sweep from left to right, showing the direction of movement.
Sure enough, right then, a green station wagon appeared from behind a building on our left and drove down the street, disappearing behind a building on our right.
We stopped and looked at each other in amazement.
“How did you know?!” she asked.
“I don’t know.”
“Maybe you’re psychic.”
Seed successfully planted.
Looking back with discernment, I know it is entirely possible for that thief — the enemy of God and His kids — to see a car coming and rush to whisper about it to a gullible kid in the alley.
Now, as I tell you this next story I heard, keep in mind that this thief is a fallen angel — one who influenced many fellow angels to join him in his rebellion against God. These aren’t weaklings in this world either. They can make things happen.
This group of Christians travel to places to “pray over” the locations. If there’s an “evil disturbance” in nature at a particular spot on the map, they pray it away. Also, there are certain individuals within the group who can “see into the past” and detect that a sad or violent act took place at a location; so, they prayerfully “live the moment” on the historic witness’s behalf. I’m not sure whether it is an effort to “honor” that witness from the past or to “free” them from the location, but it appears to be an emotional experience for the “remembering” individual currently walking the earth.
As the story goes, this group was notified that there was an unnatural disturbance of the ocean at one location. They travelled there to see that, indeed, the water was not behaving “normally.” It was felt that evil was happening to God’s creation in this spot, so they prayed. The person who told me this story is one of the individuals who can “see into the past” and seemed to feel that her prayers were special in this case, too, for the waters tamed to behaving normally once she spent enough time in targeted prayer.
Let’s look at these stories from our sister in Christ with a discerning, objective lens.
Consider the potential thinking that can be taking place here in the mind of someone who considers themselves as working for God. Let’s put ourselves in their mindset for a moment, choosing fragments from the Bible: First, remember that Jesus calmed the storm. We also know that Jesus said we’d do works like He did, and even greater works than those (John 14:12). We also know that there’s spiritual warfare in this world, and we are called to be prayer warriors. So, of course there will be spots where that warfare is more intense, and evil “might be winning” in certain locations enough so that certain people attuned to such will see it. Therefore, those who see it must be ambassadors for Christ at those locations, participating in the war by helping the “good guys” and “calming the storm.”
I’m picturing this sweet person holding her arms out over the troubled waters (acting contrary to the way ocean waves normally act), like we see Moses in the movies holding his arms out over the splitting Red Sea.
Can we not picture a troop of fallen angels invisibly splashing a section of ocean, calling a person’s attention to it, and then ceasing the splashing after they’ve prayed a while? What would be the motive?
Go back to the “past-seeing” individual walking in the forest and suddenly feeling that something terrible happened to a little girl right here in the past. There’s prayer and a getting to know more about the girl’s story. Even if it is somehow found out that is what truly happened, is it not possible that there were fallen angels there to witness it then whisper the story to a kind-hearted yet vulnerable person in the future? Again, what would be the motive?
Let me clarify that I do have a mustard seed faith enough to believe mountains can be moved and storms can be calmed, if that’s what God wills. And, yes, I know the verses about calling evil good and calling good evil and attributing the works of God to Satan. Yet, I think that’s about timing. If we label something as “good” or “evil” without going to God in prayer (requesting discernment and a sound mind, peeling away our own motives and sinful nature by asking to see ourselves as we truly are), then we are in error.
Danger is lurking in these stories — mine with the green station wagon and those from the past-victim-seeing, ocean-taming traveler. I once heard a parable that stuck with me. There was a woodpecker diligently pecking at a tree while a thunderstorm brewed nearby. Suddenly, a lightning bolt hit and split his tree. As he flew off, the woodpecker thought to himself, “Wow! What a powerful beak I have!”
