For Dream Interpretations, see the sidebar.
Types of Dreams…
There are many types of dreams. Daniel 1:17, and Eccl 5:7 speak of different types of dreams (and some are even “empty”. So beware! Not all dreams have meaning. God does bring us dreams, but dreams may also come from our own body, or our soul (our wants, fears, or even from the enemy. I’ve heard, read, and experienced that anywhere from 90% to 98% of our dreams that come from God are about “where we are” or our struggles we are dealing with in life. God is showing us these things for several reasons.
Some may be to
- give us a clearer view of what we are facing
- to let us know He knows what we are dealing with i.e.. we are not alone in this!
- or possibly to give us a clue that we might need to tweak ourselves a little to help our situation.
These types of dreams are often referred to as Self-Condition Dreams.
So…Why does God give us dreams to tell us something we already know? Daniel answers this in Dan 2:30 it’s so we may know the thoughts of our heart. God helps us understand our own emotions, our reactions, our paradigms that tint our viewpoints by using dreams. The dream can get through people’s hard outer shell and speak to us in a softer way. Self Condition Dreams might help take time to realize we are acting out of habits and learned behaviors and not necessarily the way we should be. They help us identify our own strongholds and how they affect us and others. They may even show us that although we know something intellectually, we may not be applying the principles. Also, we may see that a minor issue in our life in fact may be doing more damage than we realize.