One way God speaks to me is through dreams. Last year I dreamed that someone was placing peace on or in my left chest. I said, “Oh good, now I can go to it and feel it whenever I need it.”
Last week I dreamed someone was saying to me: “Give it time.” After some reflection, I knew the areas in my life that this dream was trying to help me with. Dreams are incredible gifts from God!
What kind of God do you want? A God who can speak to you, make His words known to you? A God who can give you peace and joy in the midst of loss? A God who can prepare you for what’s ahead, tell you want to do?
God is not dumb
When our son was diagnosed with leukemia (1970), I knew I’d never survive his death unless I could find a living God. So my spiritual quest began in earnest and I discovered a God who is not dumb, He has a voice and will speak to us when we come to Him with all our heart (Jeremiah 29:11-14).
According to the Bible, God promises to pour out His Spirit and make His words known to us (Proverbs 1:23). St. Peter explains: “It shall be in the last days,” God says, “that I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams” (Acts 2:17).
So I want to talk about three ways God promises to speak to us—prophecy, dreams, visions—and the importance they can play in our life, our family, and our country if we pay attention to them.
Prophecy—“God has heard your prayers”
When our marriage was falling apart, we knelt together and surrendered it to God. A few days later in a hotel lounge, a little man with a full white beard (looked like prophet Isaiah) walked up and said, “God has sent me here to prophecy to four people. You are two of them.”
He said, “God has heard your prayer; He’s going to make you of one heart.” Then he added that God was going to take me to Europe to share with others what He had done for me.
Dream—“God wants to make you director of marketing for him”
A few years later, after I’d made several trips to Europe, the Lord spoke again through prophecy: “Don’t go back until I tell you to. You will be like a woman in labor, but you must wait until I tell you to go.” I waited three years, then I dreamed:
I am looking at a large map of Germany on the wall. Tiny lights are going on all over, but mostly in a certain area. A man (company CEO) says: “We want to make you director of marketing in Europe. We know you are the one, because the Lord has said.”
It was time to return! For the next seven years, I traveled to Germany yearly, teaching the things that God had taught me. In 2002, I was given a monthly program on Radio Horeb which can be heard throughout Europe—fulfilling God’s promise to me.
Vision—wall of hatred around America
Several decades ago, Frans Schadee (a Dutch missionary behind the Iron Curtain, who had stayed with us) shared this vision: “I saw the map of the United States and Canada. There was an expanding, foggy cloud-like wall surrounding them. The wall was a mixture of dust and hatred. This wall tried to engulf the countries, but between them and this vast wall, there was a continuous line of Holy Angels preventing it.
Within the United States and Canada there were many lighthouses, but there was much anxiety and fear as the people looked at the huge, foggy wall of hate surrounding their countries. Many leaders opened their eyes and started to preach, focusing the attention of the people upon the angels garrisoned between the continent and the wall.
Inside the country came a new joy, a new fire, and a new outpouring of the Spirit. Then I saw the line of angels turn around from facing the countries, and as they turned around toward the wall, the wall began to disintegrate.”
Living my dreams
In some way, my life is a testimony to the power of recognizing God’s voice in dreams. Without dreams I would never have been healed of destructive attitudes; started my first small groups; or discovered my gifts and talents. And, if I had not paid attention to my dreams, I would not have conducted retreats in Europe, nor have a European radio program. Moreover, I would not have gone to grad school at age 65, become a spiritual mentor to others, or be writing a column for our local newspaper.
“May the Lord give you the courage to value your dreams as a way to hear his voice.”
You can learn about dreams by listening to my audio recordings (Audio Files) and through my Dream Books.