Dreams: A Form of Meditation

The Surprise Party

During my waking hours God can tell me that He has everything under control. I can read verses about the good plans He has concerning me and how His thoughts for me are full of hope, prosperity and peace (see Jer. 29:11). In addition to reading these Scriptures, the Lord will even speak to me personally in my two-way journaling and quiet times with Him, letting me know He is definitely up to awesome things behind the scenes.

Sounds great! But what if these blessings don’t seem to be playing out in my life right now? I mean, how should all these wonderful promises make me feel? It looks good on paper, but at this specific moment in time, maybe I don’t feel especially thought about or well cared for. What then?

Then I go to sleep, and I dream God’s dreams and sense His heart. I remember one time I was feeling a bit forgotten about and was wondering where God was in all of the goings-on in my life. Granted, I knew He was there; it just didn’t feel like it.

So He graciously gave me a dream in which I was going to a reunion—at least that is what I thought. But then when I arrived, it turned out to be a huge, elaborate surprise party—for me! So many people had come for the celebration, and there were decorations galore, and delicious food, and colorfully wrapped gifts.

Totally unbeknownst to me, all this organizing had been going on for weeks. The attendees had been thinking about me all this time, and their thoughts were for good and for peace. They had been planning and working hard on how to bless me best!

I felt loved, cared for, and thought about. I was overcome by the generosity, enthusiasm, and time that were invested just to honor me. It was a special dream, and I woke up in a very good place. I got the revelation: God is arranging blessing for me. He is orchestrating great things!

I just saw it. I lived it in my dream, and more than that, I experienced the comfort of His kindness and grace showered upon me. That was the main emotion in my dream, and I realized that God was encouraging me to press on, trust His surprise celebrations, and believe in all the good things He has been preparing for me.

In her book Who Switched Off My Brain?, cognitive neuroscientist Dr. Caroline Leaf writes: “Even though you can be presented with evidence that something is true, you won’t really believe it unless you feel that it is true. It may be reasonable, logical, scientifically proven or just plain common sense, but you won’t believe it unless your brain’s limbic system (the seat of your emotions) allows you to feel that it is true.”

That is what dreams do: they move revelation from our heads down into our spirits, making it a reality that we can that much more easily live into and out of. They allow us to feel truth in such a way that we can own it. It is not only biblical truth. Now it is our truth, too.

For more dream stories and teaching, check out our brand new book on Hearing God Through Your Dreams. Blessings to you... as God can't wait to meet you in your dreams!