Every dream has value. They don’t all have equal significance, but every dream has something to offer us. Of course, since God does not create anything bad, we could suggest that there are no useless dreams. But beyond that minimal assertion, I consider every one of my dreams has a worthwhile contribution to make to my life—whether I understand it or even remember it.
During the decades that I approached my own inner growth with some vigor and enthusiasm, I wrote a lot of dreams in my journals. Most of those dreams I logged as a personal spiritual exercise, assured that there was value in doing so—even if I comprehended very few of those nighttime narratives.
Perhaps, however, those little-understood dreams were important in a way similar to saying that every flower growing in the field is important. We might think just one flower is insignificant. But sometimes it can become part of a little girl’s bouquet that delights the heart of a mother or father. Maybe that flower—or one of its fellows down a domesticated row—could eventually be incorporated into a spray of beauty that witnesses a man and a woman being joined in marriage. How’s that for significance?
So I don’t discount a dream just because my limited intellect or lazy heart doesn’t get ahold of it at the moment. On a rainy Saturday afternoon, I might thumb through some old journal from the 1990s and suddenly a dream can pop off the page and become alive for me. Never saw that before. Don’t even remember that dream. Good thing I scrawled it in this tattered old spiral notebook. Thank you, Lord, that you now cause the dream to become meaningful to me, even after all these years.
Life-altering dreams are easier to recall and more readily accepted as valid and valuable. I have experienced a number of those memorable pillow visitations. Never had an angel appear in my dreams like Joseph did, when the baby Messiah needed special care and direction from his earthly father. But when flood waters at the transom of my home threatened my very existence, some action was demanded of me if I wanted to survive. I’ll never forget that dream—I can still feel it as I write.
In between the so-called “meaningless” dreams and the life-changing dreams, there are numerous nighttime visionary events that have meaning and purpose for our lives. As my wife, Judith, wrote in her book, Dream Treasure: Learning the Language of Heaven, dreams can affect us directly, even if we can’t recall what the dream narrative was. We’re drinking coffee, asking each other if we had a dream last night, and I distinctly remember dreaming during the night. No doubt about it; I dreamed.
Also no doubt about the fact that I cannot recall a single thing that was in that dream. Nada. Complete blank. But as I reflected on the dream, I realized that it brought a welcome positive energy that boosted me into my day with excitement and enthusiasm. So, although I wish I knew what the dream was about (why? So I could satisfy my intellectual curiosity?), I am grateful for the forward thrust it provided me for that day, and also for the encouragement it still brings me today.
God is at work, and whether my mind understands everything he’s doing is not so important, as long as my heart gets ahold of it.