When God Just Shows You Something

There have been many times throughout my life where I have had a prophetic dream that in months to come has happened.  Maybe not exactly like in my dream but close enough that I knew it was a prophetic dream.  Sometimes this happens because we are prophetic people and God's gift in us is working.  He lets us know that we have a gift from Him, and it is a sign to let us know that He loves us. Isn't that cool?!  Just because!!! When this occurs, the just because, it is to encourage us that we do indeed hear from God.  This very thing happened to me when I was sixteen.  I had just gotten saved and was in high school.  I was an alternate with seven other girls on our drill team.  When one of the regulars missed 5 days of school, they would get taken out of the routine and on of us alternates would get to go in.  Several days before this happened I had a dream that on of the regulars had missed five days so they drew x's on a piece of paper to see which one of the eight alternates would be placed in the routine. As I opened up my little white square of paper, it had an x on it.  Then in real life when that scenario played out just like I dreamt it, well I jumped up and down and said out loud that I had dreamt it just a few nights before.  I did the math on that one and there was only a twelve and a half percent that the outcome would be in my favor.  But I do walk in the favor on the Lord!  So do you if you are reading this blog and know my sweet savior as the Lord of your life. He is a good, good Father.

Puns in Dreams

Sometimes you have to read back, out loud your dream after you have written it down to understand puns in your dream. Puns can be very subtle and you can miss them if you are not careful.  For example, when you see a snake in the grass that usually means there is a person hiding that does not have your best interest in mind. Thus a snake in the grass.  Another example of this could be dreaming of playing board games and when you read the dream out loud you realize that the meaning of the picture you saw means that you are not being sincere in your relationships.  (playing games) Pretending to be something you are not. If you dream of being stabbed in the back that means that someone you put trust in is betraying you. That is just another example of a pun in a dream. Idioms that we use every day in the English language that can have a totally different meaning. Once you read your dream out loud look for these subtle little puns that you may have missed.  They can help you in determing the interpretation of the dream. 

Names in Dreams

Often in a dream when you dream of someone with certain initials like JC or some other name, think of another person that you know with the same initials. I recently had a dream where the person was named JC and when I woke up I knew that person was Jesus Christ. John Connors could also stand for Jesus Christ because the initials are the same.  Get the point?  If the name stands out as a symbol in the dream, it has relevance.  You may see someone in your dream named Harry which doesn’t look like someone you know in real life, but you do know another person named Harry in real life. Whatever you think of when you hear the name Harry is probably what God is showing you. It could be a pun that things are about to get “Hairy.”(Complicated) What I am saying is the person in your dream may not look like the person you know, but the dream is still talking about the characteristics of that person.  I often dream of an aunt of mine.  I have to ask myself, “what she reminds me of?”, and this particular aunt is very wise and so when God uses her in my dream, I believe He is speaking about wisdom.   Until next time, sweet dreams.

Dreams are for the Dreamer

Dreams are usually for the dreamer unless you are an intercessor, or in a position of authority over people. (e.g., pastor, counselor, etc.) So when you dream of a friend doing something in a dream, take the message for yourself. God is speaking to you because you are the one having the dream.  This was the hardest thing for me to learn because I am an intercessor. When I have a dream I have to examine every area of my life that God could be speaking to me about.  If it doesn’t fit any area of my life, only then can I assume that it was for the person I saw in the dream.  So, I pray for that person and rarely tell them what the dream was.  I have learned from experience. I once dreamed that I saw my best friend at the time driving in a Volkswagon. She drove into the garage and kept hitting the car into the wall.  I thought it was funny at the time.  I then realized that I have a German heritage (Volkswagon) and was hitting into a concrete wall and not going anywhere.  The thing about a Volkswagon is that it is small and air powered. (Spirit powered) If you know me, I am small in stature and very much a spirit empowered saint.  At this time in my life I was stuck in a situation that was not changing for the better.  The dream was an accurate assessment of how I was feeling. Another time I dreamed I was prophesying over this woman about her three children.  I told her the first one was going to go into the family business.  I saw that the second one was going to be a teacher. I could not see what the third one would be doing though. About a month later, my older daughter came to her father and me and told us she wanted to work for us.  It then hit me that the dream I had of prophesying to the lady was for me and I was the lady I had prophesied to. My second child did get her teaching degree and the future of our youngest has yet to be determined.  

The ways symbols get their meaning continued

    The second way a symbol can get its meaning is the word of God or the bible.  Many times we see in the bible can find the meaning of a symbol from the God who created it.  Proverbs has a lot of symbols.  In Proverbs 6:6-8 it reads, “Go to the ant, though sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise: which have no guide, overseer, or ruler, provides her meat in the summer, and gathers her food in the harvest.” From this we can clearly see that the meaning for an ant could be wise; diligent; prepared for future. That is the positive meaning for ant.  Remember, I said that symbols can be either positive or negative. The negative meaning could be nuisance; stinging or angry words. You have to decide. If you dream of ants and they are biting you, or in your house where they are not supposed to be, then you can take the meaning as a negative thing.  When you have a symbol that you don’t know the meaning of, the bible is the first place you should go to see if God has something to say about that particular symbol.

     A third way that symbols get their meaning is from our culture.  Traditionally if you have a dream where the people are all dressed in black, we can assume that there is a funeral going on.  If you lived in Israel and you dreamed of people all being dressed in black it would have a totally different meaning. In Israel people wear black to a wedding which is totally different than a funeral.  Also, in our culture we know that if you see a yellow ribbon tied around a tree that means that someone is coming home soon. In addition to these examples, if you dream of something being red, white and blue, you could assume it represents America because those are the colors of America.  Many times God will show you two symbols that represent the same thing.  If you saw a red, white and blue eagle you can be sure God is talking about America because both of those symbols represent the same thing.

    The final way that symbols get their meaning is from personal experience.  What I mean by this is what the symbol represents to you.  I had a friend once who explained to me that whenever God showed her the color corn silk blue, it meant that she had done well at something.  When she was younger she took dance lessons and whenever they had a competition she would receive a corn silk blue first place ribbon if she had come in first. Therefore, the color of corn silk blue represented to her that she had done her best.  If you are not sure what a person, place or thing means to you, ask yourself what does this particular symbol represent to me. What happened when you were there or with that person?  How did that person, place or thing make you feel?  In essence, what does that symbol make you think of?  If it is something from the past, it could be talking about something that happened in that particular time.  If it is in the now, it may be telling you of something that is happening now.   

Symbols Good or Bad

    Now symbols can have either a good or bad meaning depending on how you feel about it in the dream.  For instance, if you dream about a tornado in a dream, it could mean destruction depending on the color of the tornado and the feeling you had while having the dream, or on the other hand, if the tornado is white and you are not sensing anything fearful but rather an awe at the majesty and greatness of the power of the wind, it might just represent the power of God coming to turn the situation around.  Colors of symbols are almost as important as the symbol itself.  Colors too can have both a positive or negative connotation. For instance, the color green can represent life because when things are green they are thought to be growing and alive, but on the negative side green can represent envy or greed.  Another meaning for green can be naive because in our culture when someone is thought to be naive, they are often called green.  This brings us to the next topic which is how symbols get their meaning.

     The first way that symbols get their meaning is from the inherent characteristic of the symbol; you can use that for the meaning.  For example, if I dream of an owl I know that owls are nocturnal creatures. They have very keen eyesight and feed on small animals. Sometimes I do a google search if I am not sure what the characteristics are. One night I dreamed of a hippopotamus carry a baby in its mouth and it was bringing it up out of the water.  After I googled searched it, I read (to my surprise) that when hippopotamuses give birth underwater they only have about 40 seconds to bring their babies to breathe before they die. I did not know that hippopotamuses ever gave birth underwater much less that they only had a short amount of time to get their babies to land. There was a situation going on in my life that I realized must be dealt with quickly or the baby (which in this case represented a ministry) would die.  As a result, it was dealt with quickly and lives on today.   

How to Understand Symbols

   Let’s begin with God dreams because God is frequently trying to speak to us about something and unless we understand the symbols He uses we will never get the message He wants to give us. When God gives you a dream He is either warning you of something, giving you a direction, correcting you about something, or encouraging you about something. The first thing you need to ask yourself is “have I been praying about something that God could be talking to me about. You will most likely answer that question with a “Yes.” If not, try to think of what area of your life could it possibly speaking to you about? Your work? Your family? Your church? Your health? You get the idea. If a dream could happen exactly as you dreamed it, then it is probably not a symbolic dream. Take the dream for what it is and listen to what God is telling you in the dream.  But on the other hand if there is one symbol in the dream, it is a symbolic dream and needs to be interpreted.  I recommend writing out the dream double spaced so you will have room to write the meaning of the symbols in the room provided. In the gospel of Mark, when Jesus teaches about the parable of the different types of soil, He says, “Do you not understand this parable? And how will you understand all the parables?” Jesus goes on to explain that each symbol has a meaning and that we must make the substitutions of the meaning for the symbol. (Mark 4: 13-25) Jesus tells us exactly how we are to interpret our dreams in this passage.  Once you understand symbols you are well on your way to interpreting your dreams.

Prophetic Dreams

Prophetic dreams are dreams that have not yet happened; therefore, they are hard to interpret or next to impossible to interpret.  I suggest that you write them down and when something happens that triggers your memory of a past dream, you go back and reread the dream and try to interpret it then.  You may recognize the symbols but not be able to fully understand the dream and its meaning until it has happened.  To fully interpret a dream, you have to recognize which area of your life it is speaking about. Prophetic dreams can be tricky because they speak of future events, which do not necessarily have to happen. If God shows you a calamity that is going to happen, you can pray and it may never happen or possibly not as bad as if you had not prayed. You can store up prayer for dreams!  On the other hand, if it is a good thing that God is showing you and you do not keep seeking Him, it may not happen.  I once dreamed of winning the lottery but that has not happened.  I suppose true riches of friends and family was what the dream really meant. In the bible when Joseph had a dream and shared it with his brothers it made them mad because they knew what it was saying even though it was many years from happening. (Genesis 37:5-11) The dream made them even more jealous than they already were towards Joseph.  It is my opinion that he should have kept that dream to himself!  There were symbols in Joseph’s dream to indicate that it had something to do with him ruling over them and that grain was involved, but who would know that a famine was coming and all Israel would have to come to Egypt to buy grain.  (Genesis 42:6)    

Why are symbols exaggerated in dreams

Have you ever wondered why your dreams are so real or exaggerated? Why does everything in your dream seem to be intensified?  It is my opinion that God is trying to make a point and get your attention. The other night I dreamed of this big dark tornado (a common dream) and it was about to touch down.  In the dream I began speaking to the storm and rebuking it in Jesus name. As a result of my action, the tornado changed the direction of turning and began screwing back up into the sky.  God was telling me that there was a trial coming that would turn around as I began speaking to it with positive words. The storms obeyed Jesus. Luke 8:24 The same Holy Spirit lives in me and when I speak to the storms in my life they have to obey or God changes my attitude towards the storm. This dream was intense and the tornado was very dark and ominous. I believe this was given to me to make me aware of a situation I would be facing in the near future and how I am to handle it.  I will remember this dream when the time comes because it made such an impact on my mind.  I believe this was a prophetic dream which means it has not happened yet.  By writing this dream down, I can go back and read it when I see the storm coming and remember that all I need to do is speak to it and rebuke it and God will cause it to go back to where it came.  That brings me to the next area of dreams I want to write about, prophetic dreams.  You will need to watch for it in my next blog post.

Emotions in dreams

Pay close attention to your emotions in a dream because they could reveal the spirit behind the dream.  For example, I was just given a dream to interpret where a person dreamed that an alligator was chasing them and making them feel very fearful.  The alligator came into the house from an open door to the back yard.  I immediately knew that this was from the past because it came from the back (past) door. Alligators are old world animals that are harmful to humans.  They can represent generational spirits coming down from a person’s family line which are inherited. Because this dream made them feel fearful I suggested it might represent a spirit of fear.  I told the person that they needed to break a generational curse of fear and repent for not trusting God to take care of them.  Fear is the opposite of faith. You can always battle this spirit with the word of God which says, “God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and a sound mind.” 2 Timothy 1:17 “Such love has no fear, because perfect love casts out all fear” 1 John 4:18 There was more in the dream which suggested which side of the family it came through. God always tells you what you need to know when He is reveal something of this nature.  He is conforming us into His image, and our faith is being perfected!