Board index ‹ Dreams

[Augustine]

Why did God create us with the ability to dream?

[jimwalton]

We're never told, so we can only speculate. Dreams seem to be a way for our minds to process what is happening in life. I did analyze my dreams for several years, trying hard to figure out what they meant. I came to the solid conclusion that they were reflections of what was going on in my life and what my emotional state was. Over the course of 3 years they never had any spiritual meaning, none of them were predictive of the future (though there were a few I thought were that but they didn't turn out to be that), and none revealed anything about the future. That's not to say God couldn't or wouldn't do that for someone else (He certainly did with Joseph, Daniel, Joseph [Jesus's "dad"], and Paul). And I wouldn't say God couldn't or wouldn't do that for someone, but He never did it for me.

Without a doubt, God occasionally uses dreams to reveal Himself or a message He wants someone to know. But mostly I think they are our brains working through the issues of life.

As far as we know, even animals dream (I've seen my dog twitch and vocalize in his sleep). If I'm remembering right, dream specialists (scientists) speculate that dreams are essential for brain health. I'd have to check on that, though.