On August 28, 1963, on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. gave his renowned “I Have a Dream” speech to a crowd of tens of thousands. An excerpt of his speech is as follows: “Though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream. I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.” Tragically, King was assassinated in 1968. However, his “I have a Dream” speech influenced the Federal government to take more direct actions to more fully realize racial equality.

Millenniums ago, in the Land of Canaan, a young boy of 17 came close to being murdered by his jealous half-brothers who said…“Here comes the dreamer!” “Let us kill him and throw him into one of these cisterns!” (Gen. 37:19-20 NLT). However, our Sovereign God intervened as He had special plans in Egypt for Joseph ‘the dreamer’.

Dreams are common to every person, but their purpose is not known by most.

Medicalnews.com says… “Though subjective, some of the possible meanings of dreams include representing unconscious desires and wishes, interpreting random signals from the brain and body during sleep, and consolidating and processing information gathered during the day.” The Bible gives a different explanation and records many dreams from Genesis to Jude. Here’s the ‘good oil’: Dreams have been used by God to fulfill His purposes. He uses dreams to convey prophecy, warning, and direction and He uses dreams to speak to both believers and non-believers alike.

True Believers are not authors of their dreams, but messengers. We are conduits of God’s messages, expressly for His purposes.  God does not give a dream to us without there being an authorised, gifted interpreter of the dream. Dreams from God are to be managed timely, carefully, and responsibly.

If you are wondering if God is speaking to you through a dream, you must always weigh your dream against what is recorded in Scripture. You must be discerning and test everything against God’s infallible Word. Deuteronomy 13:1-3 warns of false “dreamers” who lead His people astray. You must not be like them, but rather you must test everything with Scripture, and pray to God for direction (James 1:5). Additionally, you should not expect God to lead you in every decision by giving you a dream – He may or may not. Today, the normal way that God leads and guides those who belong to Him is through His Word, the Bible, and His indwelling Holy Spirit.

True dreamers are special agents of God, chosen for the delivery of divine messages.

William Joukhadar
July, 2024