Sometimes it is funny how God talks to you.  How is it that God allows you to dream dreams, either in your sleep or in your lives.  Seems God has been trying to nudge me this holiday season and when that happens, I am always drawn to scripture to figure out exactly what God is trying to tell me.

Maybe I should first begin with God’s little nudges.  God has been nudging me and pricking my heart (more about the details later) and a devotion that I was reading for the Christmas Season ended with this statement, “Make a plan this Christmas Season to do something ridiculous that you know God wants you to do.”  Although maybe it isn’t ridiculous, my doing it might be, so there I was pondering what God wants from me again.  The very next day in my inbox I received a video the explanation in the video discussed Dreaming to Doing.  That moving from Dreaming to actually Doing something is considered RAD.  Ok, God has my attention.  Just pondering dreaming lead me to scripture.  First, let me define dreams in this context.  Dreams are not just what we have when we sleep, but they can also be more importantly dreams we have for life.  How does God challenge us, prick us, or move us through dreams?  His dreams for us which can mean we must let go of our dreams for self so God can work.  In Genesis 41:15-16 it reads,”And Pharaoh said to Joseph, ‘I have had a dream, and there is no one who can interpret it.  I have heard it said of you that when you hear a dream you can interpret it. Joseph answered Pharaoh, ‘It is not in me; God will give Pharaoh a favorable answer.'” In the verses, Joseph uses his gift of interpreting dreams for Pharaoh.  Not the gift I have, but it does  make me wonder what the meaning of the dreams I am dreaming really might mean for me.  What is God trying to say to me.  I know I need to listen, but I also need to understand.  Clearly, in Job 33:14-15 we see God speaking through dreams.  “For God speaks in one way, and in two, though man does not perceive it.  In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falls on men, while they slumber on their beds”. God brings vision to us and speaks to us in our dreams.  So I pause…

Again, how do we decide what those dreams are really saying to us from God?  In the Old Testament days, prophets like Daniel were given the gift to interpret God’s will as in Daniel 5:12, “because an excellent spirit, knowledge, and understanding to interpret dreams, explain riddles, and solve problems were found in this Daniel.” Today we have to be willing to stop and listen to the Lord when he speaks to us in our dreams.  I know I am one who fails sometimes to really hear him until he continuously pricks my soul.  We must humble ourselves as Solomon did before the Lord in a dream.  When God said, “Ask what I shall give you” 1Kings 3:5, Solomon responded with, “Give your servant therefore an understanding mind to govern your people, that I may discern between good and evil, for who is able to govern this your great people?” I Kings 3:9.  Sometimes asking for the wisdom and understanding of God’s true call is not always what we think we want to hear.  It is not what we believed is right or fair for our lives.  We must be accept his wisdom not ours.

Now, dreams are not just those that we have when we sleep, but sometimes they are the goals and dreams we have for our lives.  Whether we actual dreams in our sleep or you are focused on your own desires for your life, be sure that they align with God’s plan.  Otherwise be open to his nudges.  We have to stop and believe that following the dreams that God has for us will result in the dreams found in Psalm 126:1, “When the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion, we were like those who dream.”

I must plant God’s dreams and desires in my heart and not my own, so that my fruit shows his grace.  This is hard gardening but the fruits will be more abundant than my own.

Closing Verse:  “The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasures produce evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.  Are we speaking from our hearts (dreams) or the Lord’s will for us?

Challenge:  Explore your dreams for God’s desires.  Start a journal and really dig into your dreams that tend to be recurring.  Then start doing! I use both a written and online.  www.penzu.com is a great online journal.