The idea that God dreams is both absurd and poetic.
Dreams happen to you while you're sleeping. They are out of your control. Try as you might, dreams come to you without any format – sometimes fantastical, sometimes seeming real, but always scriptless.
Given that he is omnipotent, of course God doesn't dream like we dream. But in another sense, he does. Dreams are the first step in the process of creation. Everything that starts in the imaginiation and eventually becomes a walking, talking, reality, looks a lot like a dream.
Dreams are connected to the divine, insofar as they come to you out of the ether as gift-wrapped pieces of God's creativity. And in that regard, we are all ourselves the product of a dream, a figment of the divine imagination.
Dreams, even bad ones, are an inevitable gift. They give you another perspective. They kick you out of your creative ruts.
When dreams center on a solution to a problem that has plagued you, they can feel like an expression of God's affection. You know he loves you because he has entered into your problem and wrestled it to the ground. You may have been on the ropes, exhausted by your problem, but your dream not only showed you a way out, it showed that you have a hero, a rescuer.
How incredible to be invited into the dreaming process by the dreamer himself. The creation becomes co-creator. Can there be a higher calling?
The movie Inception asks the question, "Where do dreams come from?" We know the answer and we know The answer. What a privilege.
Thank you Seth for this encouragement. I can tell you that when I was recently in ICU and heavily sedated I dreamed that I was at a stunningly large banquet table with rich food and considerable mirth filled with joy-filled jocularity. The “guests” were all those people with whom I currently have a strained or broken relationship–whatever the cause. And the “host” facilitated everything.
It was as if God said in my medically induced slumber…”I am still working on your behalf”.
And He makes that promise to each of us…
That’s a beautiful gift of a dream, Butch. I want to co-labor with God to make that dream happen.
I’ve for sure had some crazy revelations from God in my dreams. Not going to lie, I love to Dream…. nice blog Seth.
I dream all the time. It’s like a live another life when I go to sleep. They are very vivid and real. I know the Lord communicates with me through dreams. Yesterday I was thinking He dreamed the dream first. We are merely the recipients of His dream. I loved the movie Inception.