Dreams

 April 17, 2023  

“Be my Dream Master tonight.” In our men’s Bible study this evening, we were discussing how in the Bible, God often spoke to his people through dreams. He came to Jacob in a dream of a ladder reaching from heaven to earth, with angels ascending and descending upon it. He spoke to Joseph and to Pharaoh’s servants in dreams, to Daniel, and in our text this evening, to Joseph and to the magi.  “Has God ever spoken to you in a dream?” I asked. A number of heads began nodding. 

Pastor Roy spoke of a time Jesus appeared to him in a dream, and of other times when he had to wait to discern what God was saying. We spoke of dreams that we knew didn’t come from God.  Finally, I mentioned the importance of what occupies our minds before going to bed. If the last thing we see is the evening news or a murder mystery on TV, maybe those things will influence our ability to hear from God in our dreams. 

In classical Judaism, the day begins at nightfall instead of dawn. To begin the day with God, one starts with evening. How we order our thoughts before bed determines how we start the day in the morning. I wonder how much I have missed of what God wants to say to me because I didn’t order my thoughts at bedtime.   

Pastor Roy then told us how he begins his day with a prayer at bedtime: “Be my Dream Master tonight.” That’s a good way of looking at it. I’m going to begin tonight with that same prayer, and wait on the Lord to see what he will say to me when my heart is open to him while I’m sleeping. It’s great to hear from the Lord when reading my Bible, listening to a sermon, or worshipping in song. To be able to hear from him during sleep will be an added blessing! “Lord, be my Dream Master tonight.”