“Hey Mom, did I tell you about the dream I had? No, tell me. Well, we were at the fairgrounds…” At first, I thought she was going to tell me something about horses, because this girl’s conversations will usually center around horses. I love seeing and hearing her passion. But the dream did not involve horses. It was something she couldn’t understand and wanted to talk about it.
(I have decided to post this journal entry specifically this week due to our county fair actually occurring this week; even though this dream happened a while ago.)
Do you believe dreams can reveal something? Some dreams are just crazy, but there are other dreams that make you question or leave you wondering.
She continued to explain her dream. She was working at the tack shop during an event that was held at the main stadium. A blindfold came over her eyes and she thought it was her friends playing a joke on her. But it wasn’t them. They were men who kept the blindfold on and sat her down in a chair. They had a horse whip and asked her to do things she didn’t want to do. She somehow escaped the tangle around her hands and ran to the grandstands looking for us. Side note…whenever we attend an event at the fairgrounds, we usually sit in the same section. So, she went directly there and was pacing back and forth waiting for us to come down and rescue her. Save her. But we wouldn’t.
She couldn’t understand why we wouldn’t come and rescue her. Why would we watch her struggle and not come protect and save her? She said she felt frustration toward us. The announcer came with the police and arrested the men while she fell asleep and woke up in a hospital bed, surrounded by us, her family. The hospital staff stated that her heart had stopped but restarted.
I have had three distinct dreams that I can remember. Vividly. I am not one for remembering dreams. Sometimes I wonder if I do dream. Anyway…one, was early in my walk as a follower of Jesus. I was in a car accident and a bear was actively pursuing me. I remember the scariness of the bear. The teeth, the drool, the claws, the eyes, the growl. Trying to get to me through the car windows. The second dream I remember was the night before my dad was diagnosed with cancer. The dream had him dying. Mom and I were driving around the round-a-bout on the way to the hospital at night. Looking at him lying in the hospital bed from the hallway. The third dream I remember was during my mom’s two-year battle with cancer. It was about half-way through the battle and the dream revealed her body was chuck full of the disease. She too was going to pass.
There are dreams that are recorded in Scripture. Why are they there? Did those dreams reveal anything? In Genesis Jacob had a dream. After placing his head on a stone because the sun had set, Jacob dreamt. The dream revealed a ladder with angels ascending and descending and the Lord stood above it. The Lord stated that He was the Lord, the God of Abraham his father and the God of Isaac. The land on which he was lying the Lord was giving to him and his offspring.
Also in Genesis, it is recorded that Joseph had a dream. Here he was 17 years old and his job was out in the pasture. He told his brothers his dream and they hated him even more for the dream. For the dream revealed that he would be elevated before his brothers. Which eventually came true, but only after years of attempted murder, slavery, imprisonment, and government employment.
Then there is Daniel. Who was brought into exile as a teenager under a king who was powerful and self-seeking. The king had a dream and didn’t understand the meaning. So, the king asked his advisors to interpret, without giving them any knowledge of the dream. No one could possibly do that. They wanted information about the dream first, then they would interpret the dream. Nope! And since no one could interpret this specific dream that was never discussed, the king ordered all wise men to be killed, which included Daniel. Daniel asked for some time, then he would interpret the king’s dream without any discussion. It was granted. So, Daniel gathered his closest friends and together they sought the Lord, asking for interpretation so they wouldn’t be killed. These four guys knew the power of prayer and of their God. The Lord gave revelation and Daniel interpreted the king’s dream because God revealed to him the meaning. All the wise men were safe.
Lastly, I will mention Joseph in the New Testament. The king at the time of Jesus’ birth, was Herod. Herod felt threatened by this other King that had been born and was sought out by wise men from the East. Herod wanted to kill this potential threat, Jesus, so he ordered all males ages two and under to be murdered. Joseph had a dream to flee the country. Go to Egypt and remain there until further instruction. Joseph immediately obeyed. Baby Jesus was not killed at that time. This was not the first dream God had given Joseph.
My first dream was about the enemy trying to get my spirit. He didn’t like and doesn’t like me following Jesus. My second dream came true. Mom and I actually went to the hospital at night, using the round-a-bout, and looked at my dad’s body from the hallway (my breathing stopped when I remembered my dream and was seeing it played out). He had flatlined, was revived and placed on life support, according to his directive. Weeks later he passed. My third dream also came true. Mom was eventually full of cancer and the Lord brought her home for eternity.
So, what was my daughter’s dream about? Was it just a crazy dream or was the Lord showing her something? Trying to reveal something to her. I asked if she understood that Jesus is the Only One who can protect and save her? Dad, Mom, and her brothers cannot save her for life of eternity. Only Jesus has the authority to do that.
Then I asked myself, “Do I truly believe this also?” Do I put trust into things of this world to save me or do I believe that Jesus Christ is the Only One who can save me? We can put so much trust and faith into people and things that are tangible and not truly believe that Jesus is the ONLY way to the Father. To heaven. For eternity.
Do you believe and trust that Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life?
I am ONE story.
~ Kristy
Genesis 28:10-16 ESV (English Standard Version)
10 Jacob left Beersheba and went toward Haran. 11 And he came to a certain place and stayed there that night, because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones of the place, he put it under his head and lay down in that place to sleep. 12 And he dreamed, and behold, there was a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven. And behold, the angels of God were ascending and descending on it! 13 And behold, the LORD stood above it and said, “I am the LORD, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac. The land on which you lie I will give to you and to your offspring. 14 Your offspring shall be like the dust of the earth, and you shall spread abroad to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south, and in you and your offspring shall all the families of the earth be blessed. 15 Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land. For I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.” 16 Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, “Surely the LORD is in this place, and I did not know it.”
Genesis 37:1-8 ESV (English Standard Version)
1 Jacob lived in the land of his father’s sojournings, in the land of Canaan.
2 These are the generations of Jacob.
Joseph, being seventeen years old, was pasturing the flock with his brothers. He was a boy with the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, his father’s wives. And Joseph brought a bad report of them to their father. 3 Now Israel loved Joseph more than any other of his sons, because he was the son of his old age. And he made him a robe of many colors. 4 But when his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, they hated him and could not speak peacefully to him.
5 Now Joseph had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers they hated him even more. 6 He said to them, “Hear this dream that I have dreamed: 7 Behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and behold, my sheaf arose and stood upright. And behold, your sheaves gathered around it and bowed down to my sheaf.” 8 His brothers said to him, “Are you indeed to reign over us? Or are you indeed to rule over us?” So they hated him even more for his dreams and for his words.
Daniel 2:1-23 ESV (English Standard Version)
1 In the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuchadnezzar had dreams; his spirit was troubled, and his sleep left him. 2 Then the king commanded that the magicians, the enchanters, the sorcerers, and the Chaldeans be summoned to tell the king his dreams. So they came in and stood before the king. 3 And the king said to them, “I had a dream, and my spirit is troubled to know the dream.” 4 Then the Chaldeans said to the king in Aramaic, “O king, live forever! Tell your servants the dream, and we will show the interpretation.” 5 The king answered and said to the Chaldeans, “The word from me is firm: if you do not make known to me the dream and its interpretation, you shall be torn limb from limb, and your houses shall be laid in ruins. 6 But if you show the dream and its interpretation, you shall receive from me gifts and rewards and great honor. Therefore show me the dream and its interpretation.” 7 They answered a second time and said, “Let the king tell his servants the dream, and we will show its interpretation.” 8 The king answered and said, “I know with certainty that you are trying to gain time, because you see that the word from me is firm— 9 if you do not make the dream known to me, there is but one sentence for you. You have agreed to speak lying and corrupt words before me till the times change. Therefore tell me the dream, and I shall know that you can show me its interpretation.” 10 The Chaldeans answered the king and said, “There is not a man on earth who can meet the king’s demand, for no great and powerful king has asked such a thing of any magician or enchanter or Chaldean. 11 The thing that the king asks is difficult, and no one can show it to the king except the gods, whose dwelling is not with flesh.”
12 Because of this the king was angry and very furious, and commanded that all the wise men of Babylon be destroyed. 13 So the decree went out, and the wise men were about to be killed; and they sought Daniel and his companions, to kill them. 14 Then Daniel replied with prudence and discretion to Arioch, the captain of the king’s guard, who had gone out to kill the wise men of Babylon. 15 He declared[b] to Arioch, the king’s captain, “Why is the decree of the king so urgent?” Then Arioch made the matter known to Daniel. 16 And Daniel went in and requested the king to appoint him a time, that he might show the interpretation to the king.
God Reveals Nebuchadnezzar’s Dream
17 Then Daniel went to his house and made the matter known to Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, his companions, 18 and told them to seek mercy from the God of heaven concerning this mystery, so that Daniel and his companions might not be destroyed with the rest of the wise men of Babylon. 19 Then the mystery was revealed to Daniel in a vision of the night. Then Daniel blessed the God of heaven. 20 Daniel answered and said:
“Blessed be the name of God forever and ever,
to whom belong wisdom and might.
21 He changes times and seasons;
he removes kings and sets up kings;
he gives wisdom to the wise
and knowledge to those who have understanding;
22 he reveals deep and hidden things;
he knows what is in the darkness,
and the light dwells with him.
23 To you, O God of my fathers,
I give thanks and praise,
for you have given me wisdom and might,
and have now made known to me what we asked of you,
for you have made known to us the king’s matter.”
Matthew 2:1-15 NLT (New Living Translation)
1 Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the reign of King Herod. About that time some wise men[a] from eastern lands arrived in Jerusalem, asking, 2 “Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We saw his star as it rose, and we have come to worship him.”
3 King Herod was deeply disturbed when he heard this, as was everyone in Jerusalem. 4 He called a meeting of the leading priests and teachers of religious law and asked, “Where is the Messiah supposed to be born?”
5 “In Bethlehem in Judea,” they said, “for this is what the prophet wrote:
6 ‘And you, O Bethlehem in the land of Judah,
are not least among the ruling cities of Judah,
for a ruler will come from you
who will be the shepherd for my people Israel.’”
7 Then Herod called for a private meeting with the wise men, and he learned from them the time when the star first appeared. 8 Then he told them, “Go to Bethlehem and search carefully for the child. And when you find him, come back and tell me so that I can go and worship him, too!”
9 After this interview the wise men went their way. And the star they had seen in the east guided them to Bethlehem. It went ahead of them and stopped over the place where the child was. 10 When they saw the star, they were filled with joy! 11 They entered the house and saw the child with his mother, Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasure chests and gave him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
12 When it was time to leave, they returned to their own country by another route, for God had warned them in a dream not to return to Herod.
13 After the wise men were gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up! Flee to Egypt with the child and his mother,” the angel said. “Stay there until I tell you to return, because Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.”
14 That night Joseph left for Egypt with the child and Mary, his mother, 15 and they stayed there until Herod’s death. This fulfilled what the Lord had spoken through the prophet: “I called my Son out of Egypt.”
John 14:6 NLT (New Living Translation)
6 Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.”