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.