Have you ever had a bad dream? One that wakes you up in the middle of the night and disrupts your peace? Maybe it was a nightmare, or maybe it was something from your past that creeped into your dream world and awoke you abruptly after it finished.
When I have dreams such as these, I find it difficult to start the day off on the right foot. Often I find myself trying to figure out why I had the dream. Did it result from a thought or worry I had the previous day? Was it because of something I overheard that my subconscious picked up? Long story short, I begin to evaluate the dream and my mind can wander off into a somewhat depressing place.
And I can’t stand it. Thankfully, I have learned that when a bad dream leaves me feeling down, I must remember that it shouldn’t control or direct my thought life for the rest of the day. It should have no power over me.
Why is that?
It’s because Philippians 4:8 tells us to think about things that are true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, commendable, excellent and worthy of praise. A bad dream does not fall under any of those categories. In fact, it’s the opposite of “true.” Dreams are not real. I encourage you not to spend your entire day dwelling on something that is not a part of reality. Instead, remember what is real: God is good, Jesus died for my sins, He rescued me, He is with me and He loves me. Those are all things that are true. And honorable, pure, lovely, commendable, etc…
I just have to leave you with a cool little story. Last week, I woke up in the morning from a rough dream. Shortly after I awoke, I read the following tweet by Christian recording artist Dara MacLean:
“Had a dream about the past & realized its because the enemy is scared of my future. Today u have everything u need through him 2 succeed.”
Girl knows what she is talkin’ about. And God knew I needed that! I instantly began to see my dream as an opportunity to trust God instead of a reason to doubt myself and my situation in life. I’m not going to let the enemy become a stumbling block to my growth and maturity in Christ. Are you?
Jen
Christianity Dreams Faith god Jesus Christ Nightmares philippians 4:8 Reality religion whatever is true
Jen, I totally agree!He has done the same for me so many times and even for my granddaughters! Especially the middle one-one night I was putting her to bed and she told
me about her nightmares. I told her that we were going to read a quick Psalm that she could understand- she was 4 I think. and then we were going to pray to Jesus to protect her mind from these nightmares while she slept. And so we did. The first thing she did in the morning when she woke up-and usually it is very hard to get her up in the morning-but not THIS morning as she bounded out of bed, calling Mimi,Mimi- I came running-well almost it was 3 yrs ago. She said-Jesus answered my prayer! I didn’t have any nightmares! I am always going to ask him from now on just lilke we did last night!
Now tell me that Jesus is not already preparing her heart for him! and this heart was once again-grateful, filled to overflowing, with His continual grace, mercy and compassion-even for a little girl’s nightmares. all of us are important to Him.
What a beautiful story! Thank you for sharing 🙂
Oh, and I had one other thought!
In this season of my life, have prayed many times before going to sleep, asking God to be the Lord over my dreams & make them positive, but he has not always answered that prayer the way I wanted.
I believe he allows the dreams sometimes as little “trials” that I overcome & it helps me depend on him even more. 🙂
You are wise to realize that God does not have to submit to your prayer request. HE IS GOD. And it is beautiful to then respond to a bad dream which He has indeed allowed, as a trial, not a lack of His superiority. Nor a situation that requires more faith. A trial, which would mean it is an opportunity to count it all joy. Yep. It is a heart of obedience in the midst that He is desirous of. Jennifer, you just keep getting more lovely in Him.