In all the thousands of dreams I have recorded, only two predicted the future – in terms of events of the day following the dream. I have had predictive dreams about my new learning about the Gospel, and these were in series. But it was not so much a warning, but a correction which I did not walk in for some months, being slow to want to change a theology I had grown used to. This is not an uncommon occurrance.
Usually, when the Holy Spirit reveals the meaning of the dream, either directly or through a believer who is experienced in dream interpretation, one commonly has a sudden “Aha! as light bursts in on them with understanding. Sometimes this is at a much later date than the dream.
But the two dreams I experienced that predicted the actual detailed events in the following day, while also validating the dream ministry, were both very different from each other. One was a serious warning. Each dream had a different purpose. They were each during the night but months apart.
The first one was a simple preview of an unusual event with a sudden unknown visitor that my husband and I witnessed in our front yard. The sequence of events had appeared as a dream the night before and I had very little idea of the meaning. When the event happened, I knew exactly how to react with the unknown person, as I had seen it in the dream and so, I just did it. As the “event” finished, my husband commented on the unusual event. I explained that I had just done what was in the dream. Up to this time, which was early in my Acts 2:17 experiences, he had been doubtful as to whether this really was the Lord speaking or just fanciful thinking.
At the close of the “event” which involved the person whom we have never seen before or since, I explained my actions to my husband – they had appeared in the dream the night before in just this way. We went inside and I pulled the Word document file up and there was the earlier documented time and date on file on my screen. In this way, my husband began to realise that my dreams may be of the Lord.
But never having had a serious predicted dream, warning of danger, I did not recognise what the Lord was saying initially when the second predictive dream came.
With this particular dream, the night before a visit to the skin specialist I had a warning dream. I was due to attend a skin specialist for a consultation about a deep growth on my very bony hand. I had a referral from my doctor.
The night prior to the specialist visit, I dreamt I saw the skin specialist examining the nasty growth on my hand. He said to me that it had to be removed instantly. Upon waking I assumed the dream must be correctional and my right hand and the cancer symbolic. And It may have been that too. Since I was convinced the dream was a only a correction and not a warning, I did not understand at it the time. I prayed for some understanding as I typed it up.
If we don’t feel that great relief of understanding, we ought not force an interpretation, because if we do, we are bound to do it in our old nature and the truth the Holy Spirit is giving us will be lost to us.
When I was about to leave for the surgery some thirty minutes from home, my husband asked if he should drive me so he could care for me after the visit. I declined, telling him that this was just a consult; there’s no way there would be surgery today. It was not booked in as such.
When I went in to see the surgeon, he took one look at the growth and declared it needed to be removed instantly – it could not be burnt off due to the depth of the growth and nearness to main veins. I imagined he meant to make a booking for a future time to do the surgery.
However, within minutes I was lying on my back in the next room while a nurse and doctor prepared to remove the growth from the lower area between my thumb and forefinger. I admit I was shocked and lay perfectly still while the area was numbed. I had protested, saying I had no-one to drive me home all the way on the very busy highway. I was elderly, not confident to drive one handed etc. He disregarded that, saying I’d be right to drive with one hand and rest the other on the wheel. He was very cavalier. God forgive him.
I could feel the knife work and stitching and unfortunately I tensed throughout the whole episode. It took longer than I had imagined as the growth was deep and quite a bit of flesh had to be removed and the sides of my hand pulled together. The cut extended from the knuckle of my index finger down to my wrist. At the age of 70 this was quite a frightening experience for which I had not prepared myself. I am not the bravest soul.
But I was sweating profusely and kept trying to tell myself it couldn’t be shock because it was just a cut on my hand. If the surgeon thought I could drive – shouldn’t he know?
I had no way to get home other than driving and had no idea of buses in that city. I was shaky on my feet and feeling very weak. I considered getting a taxi which would have been beyond what I could afford at that time. Then I considered what the doctor said and thought it best to do as he said. Perhaps I was being a baby.
However, on the highway I began to get both leg and arm cramps, something my body liked to do when I least wanted it to. I hoped to get home safely and slowed down in the slow lane. But eventually I couldn’t control the car and all limbs seized up as well at the hands, fingers, and feet and toes of both feet. Then the rest of my voluntary muscles went into cramp, chest, neck etc. I pulled over as best I could and tried to get to my water bottle and salt which I carried to alleviate cramps. It was difficult as both hands and limbs had contracted painfully and wouldn’t come apart. Eventually I made it home, crawling in the slow lane, vowing always to listen to divine warnings in future.
Corrective Dreams
Most of my dreams, however, have been correctional and yet, in one sense they have been warnings too, because, unknown to me and all whom I had studied with, I was travelling on a path of theological error. All of the correctional dreams were accurately targeted to heal. But, with time and much dream experience it gets so much easier to hear His Voice in both day and night.
Holy Spirit correction is for all Christians to keep us from following our natural and old tendencies, however He speaks to one. And it is certainly a much clearer voice we hear when we stop listening to the lies of Satan, religiosity and humanism. These ideologies keep us from following the Lamb, Jesus. When we see our carnality in dreams, it makes us realise they don’t match up with the new creation within, and we can then draw from that new creation within instead of the old nature. Dreams help with this differentiation because, as Jeremiah 17:9 reminds us, “The heart (fallen nature) is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it?” But the Holy Spirit leads us into all truth when we are born again and willing to listen. When it comes in a dream, there’s no denying it, unless we choose to harden our hearts.
Biblical dreams are a great way to renew the mind in scripture and shift gears from flesh to spirit. The goal is to totally renew the mind (soul) so that it is lined up with the new creation spirit within which is knitted to the Lord. Then our total being moves into great functionality – a Hebrew term which our translators render as “peace”. So you can see why spirit walking heals us of depression with its awful disconnect.
Many dreams follow the pattern of the faithful wounds of a friend, as when Nathan said to David, “You are the man.” David had stolen another man’s wife. Instead of confronting King David head on, Nathan the prophet went to him with a report about a rich man with flocks of sheep who had stolen a poor man’s only ewe lamb. David declared the thief should die. To which Nathan responded, “You are the man.” Thankfully, David repented.
So, when we see what looks like a person in a dream, doing a particular thing especially if it is an “in-law”, it is likely it is a “you are the man” dream where one is being shown a legalistic (in-law – which is fallen humanistic) attitude in the soul by looking at another person doing that thing. Asking questions of the Holy Spirit is helpful as He will answer when our hearts truly seek to obey Him.
