What do a wild animal, a baby, and a door have in common? Nothing, until I saw them together in a dream. Like most of us, many times, I have wild and weird dreams. There are dreams that I can’t even remember when I wake up and then there are dreams that seem to linger in my mind long after. Though not all dreams are from God, I believe that God can and does speak to us through dreams.
The Bible has many instances where God speak through dreams. In the book of Joel, God said that “I will pour out my Spirit upon all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy. Your old men will dream dreams, and your young men will see visions.” Joel 2:28 (NLT) In Daniel 2, God spoke to King Nebuchadnezzar, the heathen, Babylonian King, through a troubling dream, and God gave Daniel the interpretation of the dream.
One of my favorite Bible teachers, James Goll, from “Encounters Network” said that ”Dreams are powerful things. They can reach us, touch us and change our lives in a way that no other form of communication can. Don’t despise dreams. Don’t turn your back on them as so many in the Church did for so many centuries. Open yourself to the world of dream language and, in the tradition of the Jews, expect God to speak to you through dreams, expect to remember what He says, and expect your life to be changed as you respond to what God says to you.”
I don’t consider all my dreams as messages from God, but there are some that I have a strong sense that I am supposed to learn something from them. I am going to share with you one of those dreams that I had a few days ago. In my dream, I saw a baby crying in my front yard. Next to him was some sort of a wild animal that I could not identify. The animal was looking straight at my children and me as we looked out the window. I remembered having a bad feeling about the whole thing. I told the kids not to open the door. I seemed to be more fearful of the animal than the baby. As time progressed, somehow the baby had moved to the front of my door and he was kicking it as he cried. The wild animal was nowhere to be seen. I saw my door was beginning to buckle, so I stood there and tried to reinforce it. After awhile I walked away from the door and got busy with other stuffs around the house. Later on when I checked back, my door was partially ajar and the lock was pretty much broken but the top bolt was somehow still holding the door. I kept thinking that the wild animal would come into the house. I decided to pull the baby in to stop him from kicking the door and do more damage to it. So that’s what I did. I pulled him in and quickly closed the door, again fearing the wild animal. Once the baby was in the house, he stopped crying and started roaming around. At one point, he stood on the computer table in our home office and was doing something disruptive. I got a hold of him and tried to get him off the table. He pinched me and refused to budge. At this point the dream ended and I woke up.
I checked the time and it was only 2 a.m. I thought to myself, what a weird dream that was. As I tried to go back to sleep, the dream lingered in my mind. Usually when that happens, I like to ask the Lord if there is something He wants me to learn from it. Sometimes, the thought of the dream just goes away, and sometimes He reveals stuffs to me. That night the Lord began showing me all kinds of things from that strange dream. However, since it was 2 a.m., I was too lazy to write them down. After awhile I drifted back to sleep. When I woke up in the morning, rather than forgetting my dreams and what the Lord was showing me, everything was fresh in my mind. I could hardly believe it. I knew then that I have to write them down. So here are the lessons I learned:
- The baby in that dream symbolizes a demonic spirit. The Bible says that Satan can come as an angel of light. 2 Corinthians 11:14, “And no wonder! For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light.” He will use the most harmless looking thing to deceive us. We have to learn to be discerning and not easily be manipulated. Many times the enemy uses our emotion to manipulate us. In the dream, he used a baby to manipulate my emotion. How could I leave a baby crying outside without helping him? The best way to stay discerning is to fill our mind with the Word of God, so when the impostor comes, we will be able to detect it.
- The demonic spirit tries to come into our lives/homes and it is persistent. It does not stop and won’t give up. In my dream, the baby started in the front lawn and then he moved to the front door. The enemy will come from different angles and position. He is looking for a weakness in our lives. Just like that baby who kept on pounding at my door. The enemy will continue to pound and attack until he finds a weak spot in us. 1 Peter 5:8 warns us to “Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour.” (NLT)
- The wild animal was just a distraction the enemy put out to keep our eyes from the real problem and to minimize the actual danger. The actual danger in my dream was the baby, not the wild animals.
- The door represents our heart. God warns us to “Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life.” Proverbs 4:23 (NLT) In my dream, I neglected guarding the door. I did for a while but then I walked away and got distracted with the busyness of life. Had I stayed and guarded the door or at least kept an eye on it more, I might have been able to keep it from falling apart. We should never let our guard down and let the busyness of life causes us to compromise our faith. We need to stay focused on the task at hand. We have to constantly strengthen and check our “door.” Reading God’s word and spending time with Him will help reinforce our “door.”
- Don’t give in to temptation easily. Once we let the enemy come in, it will have a foothold in our lives. We begin to lose control of our lives. The baby started controlling my activities in my house and creating havoc. And when I tried to stop or restrain him, he “bit” back. It is harder to get rid of the enemy once he is in our “house.” The best strategy is to never let him in.
I pray these lessons will help you to be more vigilant and diligent in guarding your heart.
If you would like to read more about dreams and vision, here are a few good resources:
Dream Language – James Goll
Dreams and Vision – Jane Hamon & Dutch Sheets
Exploring Your Dreams and Visions – James Goll
http://www1.cbn.com/biblestudy/dreams-and-visions%3A-god-uncensored
http://www.elijahlist.com/mobile/display_word.html?ID=14969
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