Hearing His Voice #83

After the wise men were gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream.

Matthew 2:13

A friend had dreams in which a man she knew was introduced to her as her husband. That alone would never be the basis of a decision, but it certainly opened her eyes. Later, that man confided to her that he had been having unusually clear dreams about her. Again, that would not be enough on which to base a decision, but it was quite enough to begin a conversation. That conversation, along with other divine pointers, led to the growing realization that God was bringing these two lives together in marriage.

Scripture is the record of God’s revelation to His people, but it doesn’t tell us where to move, whom to marry, when to change careers, or any other direction for specific situations. For those individual decisions, we need to hear His voice—in the context of Scripture, of course, but more personalized than the Word can give us. And one of the ways He speaks is through dreams.

God spoke to Joseph several times in dreams to guide him through the traumatic events surrounding the birth and infancy of Jesus. He also spoke to the patriarchs, the prophets, and even pagan kings through their dreams, and He gave prophets like Daniel the ability to interpret all kinds of visions and dreams (Daniel 1:17). Even in the New Testament, dreams guided significant movements and decisions of the people of God.

There is nothing wrong with asking the Spirit to inspire your dreams. He may not often give specific direction through dreams, but sometimes He does. And He frequently gives insights into the situations we are going through, or alerts us to spiritual or emotional dynamics we haven’t noticed during our waking moments. The heart is open to His voice, even at night.

Holy Spirit, I believe You speak to me in my dreams; please give me the discernment to recognize which ones are from You, and the insight to grasp what they mean. Plant Your pictures, Your desires, and Your attitudes in me as I sleep.