Search This Blog

Are all dreams messages from God?

The idols speak deceitfully, diviners see visions that lie; they tell dreams that are false, they give comfort in vain. Therefore the people wander like sheep oppressed for lack of a shepherd.  Zechariah 10:2

In the very same way, on the strength of their dreams these ungodly people pollute their own bodies, reject authority and heap abuse on celestial beings. Jude 1:8

Not all dreams/visions are not from God. While God communicated to many people in dreams – Jacob, Joseph (Jacob’s son), Daniel, Joseph (Jesus’ father) – dreams must be handled with caution.

God can communicate to us in many ways, but that does not mean that everything is a communication from God.  If so, we would look at every crazy image in our dreams and expect them to happen in reality.

Dreams are the result of nighttime brain activity. They are effected by sickness, anxiety, pressure, food. We have disconnected thoughts in our minds that may or may not communicate some deeper, hidden meaning or secret about our lives. We try desperately to make sense of dreams showing us arriving at school in our pajamas, or running away from a killer or flying over the ocean. Many times our dreams are just silly. Our minds are simply processing incidents and thoughts that happened during the day and trying to bring them to conclusion.

Then again, some dreams may be communications from God.  Many missionaries tell stories of people who had dreams then when the missionary arrived, the person said, “I saw this in a dream last night” or “A man in the sky was calling me to him.”  Definitely God was trying to reach that person and prepare them for his Gospel message.

            We need to consider those dreams that truly touch our heart or make us confront some truth we’ve been avoiding. However, many times, like the two verses mentioned here from both the Old and the New Testament, people have dreams that were not from God and we need to quickly dismiss them.