The Best Dream is the One You Can’t Remember!
By Doug Addison
Maybe you have heard me say, “The best dream you can ever have is a dream you know you had but can’t remember the details of!”
Job 33:14–17 NKJV “For God may speak in one way, or in another, yet man does not perceive it. In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falls upon men, while slumbering on their beds, then He opens the ears of men, and seals their instruction. In order to turn man from his deed, and conceal pride from man.”
God will often give us revelation and direction for our life through a dream and seal it away from our memory. Later you may walk into a situation and have a feeling you have been there before. Some people call this déjà vu. I believe that it was God giving us direction in a dream that we cannot remember and when we are living it out later we get that strange feeling that we have experienced this before.
God speaks to us all the time, sometimes through dreams. Though not all dreams are from God, we can receive instructions and guidance through dreams that is essential for our purpose and our destiny. Had He spoken to us more clearly or directly then we would have a higher responsibility for fulfilling what He wants us to do. By sealing it in a dream it can bypass our natural mind and even keep us from being prideful and from doing things in our own strength instead of His.
Another example of how God can use a dream is when you actually remember the dream but He seals away the meaning of it. We can have a dream from God that seems very significant but we do not understand the interpretation or how it applies to our life. This happened in the life of Joseph in the Old Testament. In Genesis 37, Joseph receives two powerful dreams about his destiny. The dreams indicate that his brothers and their parents will all bow down and serve Joseph. Even his father, Jacob, did not understand the meaning of this dream. The result was that Joseph was sold by his brothers and ends up a slave in Egypt. Later, in Genesis 41, God turned Joseph’s mishaps into a huge blessing that helped save the entire world from a famine.
Maybe you have wondered, how did my life end up the way it is? Oftentimes, like Joseph, we end up far from where we started and it may seem that the promises and dreams that God gave us will not come to pass. Just this year, I am seeing dreams and prophetic words in my life beginning to unfold that were given to me over twenty years ago. Had God revealed all the details ahead of time I probably would have tried to make things happen before His timing. God is faithful and we can trust Him as a loving father. Hold on to your dreams and also be open to the element of God surprising you with good things from Heaven.
DOUG ADDISON is the founder of InLight Connection in Santa Maria, California and is the author of the book Prophecy, Dreams, and Evangelism. He travels worldwide helping people transform their lives and discover their purpose. Doug is a stand-up comedian and his training seminars include hearing God, understanding dreams and visions, and experiencing the supernatural. Doug also trains and leads dream teams and prophetic/power evangelism outreaches.
www.dougaddison.com
May 18th, 2009 at 8:59 am
Hello Doug,
Another great article and one I would love to add to my Dreams and Visions Information Site.
Hope California is treating you well and your sleep time is deep and true.
Peace.
Bob Holzner
Chicago, Illinois
May 18th, 2009 at 10:35 pm
So true Doug, so true. I have experienced this quite often. Like you said, Sometimes I will be in a setting and I will say deja vu, like I have been here before. Then the Lord will remind me that I dreamt this. It is indeed a strange feeling.
May 20th, 2009 at 5:59 am
Doug,
This blog entry is liberating. I have felt bad about not working harder at writing down my dreams or remembering them. Your post shows me that this is really God’s work, not mine. This looks like the Holy Spirit’s ministry of bringing things up from our memory. Even our subconscious memory is an open book to the Lord, I guess.
Doug H
Santa Barbara, CA
May 22nd, 2009 at 6:13 am
Thanks, Doug. This is timely and affirming. I am in a transition into vocational itenerant ministry, and I’ve sensed a lot of dream activity that I can’t remember recently. It makes me even more thankful for all the ways God is working in my life.
Pat Mansfield
Boulder, CO
May 23rd, 2009 at 11:21 am
Hey Doug,
Great post, I too have many dreams that I can’t remember when I awake. My wife always remembers her dreams and tells me the details. I often get deja vue moments and ponder the “what, when and why” to determine if the source was waking or a dream. Thank you for showing me that the Lord is talking to me this way.
June 9th, 2009 at 11:50 am
Hi Doug,
THANK YOU for the articles on “Angels from Africa to California” and the one on “Not Remembering your dream”, they both are just what I needed. It is was very encourageing to read. The depth of experiencing this is amazing. Doug, THANK YOU for all that you taught me and continue to teach me as I check in on your site.
Terese
Santa Monica,CA