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.