Dreams of pizza …
or pizza dreams?
Sometimes I have dreams that I know are from God. Dreams are always metaphorical in nature (which means that they do not speak straightforward but in symbols, representations, riddles, etc.). This makes them difficult to understand until you begin to recognize their manner. They are often bright and progress orderly like scenes in a play. They are the good ones.
In dreams, metaphors are images that represents another thing in a symbolic manner. For example, if you dream about someone wearing ill-fitting or holey jeans, it could be a metaphor to communicate that there is a problem in their genes.
There are also dreams I call “pizza dreams”. These dreams likely mean nothing–except that maybe I ate too much pizza or hot peppers during the day. These dreams are often dark (as in not much light) or muted, disorganized, and make little sense even as metaphors. I do not like those.
And then there are the emotionally or spiritually dark, disturbing, or outright scary dreams that leave us anxious, afraid, and such. Those are not from God. This is not the way He does things!
Dreams are a way God communicates with us. We know this because it is throughout Scripture. Some are concerned that the enemy can counterfeit them and accordingly they reject them all. The enemy can, of course, but then he can (and does) counterfeit just about everything else as well. (Frankly, he has thriving counterfeit operations in a lot of churches!)
Paul says in 2nd Corinthians 11:14 that “… Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.” Should we then reject anything that may be from God because the enemy might counterfeit it? I do not think this is wise. In my understanding, it ultimately comes down to discernment:
We must trust in and rely on God to give us discernment as to what is from Him and what is not. This is a principle of wisdom and it applies not only in dreams but in everything that concerns our lives.
In today’s Scripture passage, Daniel had a dream. If you read the rest of chapter 7, you discover what an incredible dream it was! Metaphorical? Yes, beyond what most of us will experience. This passage says he also had visions.
Are dreams and visions the same? The short answer is “No.” I was traditionally taught that dreams come during sleep and visions come when awake. As you study Scripture, you will discover that dreams are metaphorical and require interpretation while visions are more literal and require little to no interpretation. Either can be while awake or sleeping.
The bottom line I hope you take away from today’s message is that God may communicate with you and it may be in a dream. Use discernment: If you are not certain it is from God, dismiss it. If it is from Him and you honestly reject it, He can get your attention again.
In closing, let’s make it really simple. A good way to think about discernment and whether or not you should reject a dream is this: “Don’t hang up your phone until you find out who’s calling.” (FYI: This is a type of metaphor.) You really wouldn’t want to hang up on God, would you?
Today’s Seed™ Scripture and Prayer for Apr. 28, 2023:
In the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon, Daniel had a dream, and visions passed through his mind as he was lying on his bed. He wrote down the substance of his dream. Daniel said: “In my vision at night I looked, and there before me were the four winds of heaven churning up the great sea. Four great beasts, each different from the others, came up out of the sea. (Dan 7:1-3 NIV)
Prayer: LORD, I should not dismiss unusual dreams too quickly because they may be from You. Increase me in wisdom and discernment to recognize those that have meaning. Give me greater understanding to apply their messages. Make certain that I do not accept something that is not from You or reject something that is. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
(c) 2023 Randall Vaughn • All Rights Reserved • http://www.e-min.org
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‘Today’s Seed’ from E-MIN • Apr. 28, 2023
About Randall Vaughn:
With 40+ years as pastor, author, teacher, worship leader, and songwriter, Randall pioneered E-MIN in 1997–one of the earliest online ministries and today the longest operating. His passion is leading people to deeper, genuine relationship with God. He lives in Alabama with his lovely wife, Karen, and their dogs, Hadi and Rayah. He enjoys hiking, exploring new tech, and “prayer walks”.
Copyright (c) 2023 Randall Vaughn • All Rights Reserved.
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