Sept 5th, 2020: Seeing Dreams

 

 Visions of God » Christ Church London

I am not much a dreamer by nature. I can hardly remember my dreams. However, I have had many conversations with people recently about theirs as they tried to understand them. I do see things sometimes in my quiet time with God. I guess they are not dreams but visions. So how do we know what is from God and what is not when we have these experiences?

Our dreams should be in line with the teaching of the Scriptures. So dreamers should commit ourselves to be students of the Bible. We should be able to explain our dreams via Scriptures because God speaks in one voice. He is not about confusion. When we are uncertain, we might need to keep it to ourselves and pray. I encountered people who met God in their dreams and went to look for pastors who could explain to them what they saw. These folks came from a culture that had no prior exposure to the Christian faith.

Our dreams should reflect the nature of God. If God chooses to reveal Himself in dreams, we will be able to embrace Him more fully. They are no longer about our earthy worries but heavenly promises. We will see visions that come from God, and our hearts will be glad. A few years ago, a church asked me to provide care for someone who left his family for another woman. He and I met for about four years. He struggled and fought against God. In the 4th year God got to him the day after Christmas in a dream. He then asked me to go with him to meet his wife so that he could confess his sins. It was a 14-hour confession that was guided by his dreams and many passages of the Scriptures.

Our knowledge of God will increase because of these dreams, and we will bear greater responsibilities. Daniel and his friends discovered that as they began to see visions from God and understood them. When we have a window to the heart of God, we will identify with how His heart deals with the suffering of the world. Somehow the more we decide to live out our faith, the more visions we have from God. Sometimes I see God in a simple human interaction. Sometimes I see His action in the domain of our nation.

Ecclesiastes 5:7
"For when dreams increase and words grow many, there is vanity; but God is the one you must fear."

Daniel 2:28-30
"But there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries, and he has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will be in the latter days. Your dream and the visions of your head as you lay in bed are these: To you, O king, as you lay in bed came thoughts of what would be after this, and he who reveals mysteries made known to you what is to be. But as for me, this mystery has been revealed to me, not because of any wisdom that I have more than all the living, but in order that the interpretation may be made known to the king, and that you may know the thoughts of your mind."

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