Dreaming with God

I vividly remember sitting during my quiet time as my life was about to change direction. As I sat there pondering with God, He invited me into a season of dreaming with Him. Honestly, I thought that I had been doing this all along. Years before He had placed a picture in my heart that had been growing and growing. The result was that I was about to take a huge risk in order step into this God-given dream. What I didn’t understand was the extent of the invitation and the level and style of thinking He was calling me into.

Many of us pray for this type of God download. In fact, we have a Scriptural promise that God will pour out dreams. “In the last days,” God says, “I will pour out my Spirit upon all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy. Your young men will see visions, and your old men will dream dreams.” <1> People have been dreaming for centuries yet this word seems somehow different. I would suggest that it is dreaming from a different level and perspective.

In the book of Genesis, we meet a young man by the name of Joseph. At the tender age of 17, Joseph was a dreamer.

One night Joseph had a dream, and when he told his brothers about it, they hated him more than ever. “Listen to this dream,” he said. “We were out in the field, tying up bundles of grain. Suddenly my bundle stood up, and your bundles all gathered around and bowed low before mine!” His brothers responded, “So you think you will be our king, do you? Do you actually think you will reign over us?” And they hated him all the more because of his dreams and the way he talked about them.

Soon Joseph had another dream, and again he told his brothers about it. “Listen, I have had another dream,” he said. “The sun, moon, and eleven stars bowed low before me!”

This time he told the dream to his father as well as to his brothers, but his father scolded him. “What kind of dream is that?” he asked. “Will your mother and I and your brothers actually come and bow to the ground before you?” But while his brothers were jealous of Joseph, his father wondered what the dreams meant.

As Joseph shared these dreams his family was shocked. His brothers hated him and eventually sold him into slavery. His father questioned the authenticity of them and attempted to quietly consider the meaning of the dreams at the same time. Even though Joseph shook the status quo Jacob came to the realization that there was more to the dream than what was understood at the moment.

Over the years I had to learn to contend for my dream. Just because I knew it was from God didn’t mean that everyone would agree. Some would even think it was not possible or that I was even capable of experiencing this as a part of my life. Some people would come against the dream, others would encourage it, and others would just stay quiet.

God dreams have the capacity to take us into new realms.

Joseph’s world was turned upside down and he was forced to leave his life behind. He went from favored child to a life of slavery in Egypt. During this time of great transition, Joseph had to learn to dream again. In times of tragedy and trauma, it is vital that we do not lose our future visions. Although Joseph was in a situation where nothing was making sense, I would suggest that he found a way to hang on to his dreams.

As Joseph’s journey continued, it was critical for him to hang on to his Dream Giver (God) as it allowed him to walk into a new realm of influence rather than to be held in a cage of slavery. His external circumstances were not what he envisioned. He had no idea that they would be the stepping stones into the very realm of influence that he saw in his dreams at the age of 17.

Walking into our God dreams and God-ordained destiny seldom looks the way we think it will look. In order to walk into the new realm, we often have to let go of the familiar and the comfortable. God dreams have the potential to release creative ideas.

I think one of the things that have impressed me the most about dreaming with God is the release of creative ideas. By nature, I do not see myself as a highly creative person. However, when I am dreaming with God, I am dreaming with the most creative being that has ever or will ever exist. That aspect alone changes everything!

Joseph actually moved from being a dreamer to a dream interpreter. Joseph hung on to God and God enabled him to hear others dreams from a Heavenly perspective. We see evidence of this as he interprets the cupbearers and the baker’s dreams in Genesis 40. However, it didn’t stop there. Often we think we have hit the ceiling when it is only another stepping stone in God’s plans. He is repositioning us into another sphere of influence. These encounters eventually paved the way into Pharaoh’s presence, to interpret his dreams and to present a creative plan from the throne room of Heaven. This very plan would save the nations. (Genesis 41).

One of the phrases that I love in the midst of this story is when Pharaoh is talking to his advisors and presenting Joseph’s plan. He asks his advisors a key question: “Can we find anyone else like this man so obviously filled with the spirit of God?”

As I sit here writing this blog I find myself asking a series of questions. Am I dreaming with God in such a way that I am so filled with the spirit of God, that I dream with God, and that I interpret dreams with God? Am I listening in such a way that creative ideas are released and lives are saved? No matter my “lot” or “position” in life do I have the courage to speak to rulers and those in authority? Am I holding on to my past and trying to stay in my comfort zone or am I stepping into new spheres of influence? Do I realize that my current situation may only be a stepping stone to the fullness of what God has for me?

In summary, dreams matter! It may be many, many years before we see them play out. The journey and the outcome will likely look extremely different than we thought. However, don’t abort the God-given dreams. You never know where you may end up walking!

Keep on dreaming!

Scripture quotations marked NLT are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved. Acts 2:17. Accessed December 4, 2018.

Scripture quotations marked NLT are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved. Genesis 37:5-11. Accessed November 30, 2018.