Three times in the second chapter of Matthew’s gospel, twice with Joseph and once with the wise men, the Lord uses the medium of dreams to communicate His direction. Dreams are biblical means of communication but so often when we’ve woken up we’ve either brushed them aside or wondered what it was we ate that led to the vivid (and sometimes) scary dreams we saw.
Also in this chapter is a helpful snippet of divine guidance that is seen in the interaction between the visiting wise men, king Herod and his resident wise men. When he asks the locals where they think this new ‘King’ could be found they turn to the writings of the prophet in Holy Scripture (see vs 5).
Bearing this in mind and the many kinds of dreams we can have, here are three simple tests to guage if the dream is from God or influenced by your own thinking or some other unhelpful influence. Dreams from God are:
1. In line with the Bible
The Bible is the ultimate authority over our lives for our doctrine and conduct. If a dream calls us to a contrary action such as to divorce our wife and hitch up with that attractive secratary it is not from God. God hates divorce and loves faithfulness – the Bible says so. So a dream calling us away from our marriage is probably the fruit of our over imagination, temptation or some demonic activity! And yes, that last cause can seriously affect our sleep. So the next time you have a dream bring it to the Word of God, see if it lines up, is according to and fits in with the Word of God. If it doesnt, simply forget it. Beware here the danger of wanting something from the dream and ignoring the warning lights that it is not biblical and God honouring. Its amazing how adept we can be to cloak our selfish desires with a ‘God told me to’. Yes, God speaks. That is very clear in this chapter but He also speaks in line with His revealed will in Holy Scripture.
2. Understandable
In all three dreams in this chapter there was no confusion whatsoever what those receiving the dreams were to do. The dreams were simple and straightforward not filled with signs and hidden clues that require a dream consultant to help us understand what the Lord may be possibly saying to us. One of the most vivid, accurate and timely dreams I had was when Manju was pregnant with our second child. At that time we were getting ready with names of girls and boys, not knowing what the Lord was going to bless us with. One night I had a dream of being in the delivery room as Manju gave birth. The attending doctor delivered the baby, gave the baby a smack on the bottom to get the baby to cry and then turned to me and said, ‘Inder, you have a son!’ When I woke up in the morning I knew God had spoken. We dropped thinking of names for girls and sure enough a few months later when the the baby was born it was a son! God’s dreams are understandable. And God still speaks to His people through dreams. Its not just reserved for Bible times and now God has to find some new means of communication. God doesnt change and His ways dont change. They remain supernatural and that must be our expectation. So tonight when you go to sleep, pray, ask the Lord to speak to you. Who knows, He may well give you a dream.
3. Christ centered
All the three dreams in this passage are centred around Jesus, specifically protecting Him from potential danger. They are focussed on Jesus. All dreams, indeed all of God’s divine guidance exalts and is centered around Christ. So a good question to ask your dream – who does it promote? Me, another person or Jesus Christ? Is the dream centered around making Jesus more famous? Will even the sharing of the dream draw people to worship Him, to appreciate, admire and tust Him more? Will following the dream establish and expand His kingdom, His church and His purposes or is centered on me and my little kingdom? If its centred around you and makes you the hero then its probably the result of the last Bollywood movie you saw!
These three form a basic core of litmus tests for dreams – does it line up with the Bible, is it undesrandable and is it Christ centred with Him as the Hero? Let us therefore expect God to speak to us in this way. Sleep is never wasted. Besides giving us the much needed rest, its also a time when God does His finest work. If we could ask Adam, he’ll agree (see Genesis 2:21-25).
“Thank you heavenly Father for the way you have spoken to me in the past through dreams. As we fast and seek you in prayer over these two weeks would you please give many clear, biblical and Christ centered and Christ exalting dreams to our people. May they know the hand of God upon them as they rest each night to wake up refreshed but also spoken to. May the voice of God through dreams produce faith and obedience as we see with Joseph and the wise men in Matthew chapter 2. Help us to understand and give us grace to obey Your will everyday we ask in Jesus Name, Amen”.
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Life by the Word 