God Speaks While You Sleep Paying Attention BY ALISON LATTY
On March 10, Alison was a panel member in CBOQ Now’s online panel discussion on dreams and mission. To view, visit baptist.ca/cboq-now 8
LIVE MAGAZINE
MARCH / APRIL 2022
SOME PEOPLE FUNCTION WELL on a few hours of sleep a night. I am not one of those people. I have always liked a lot of sleep and am happy with the 10 hours I usually get a night! Apparently, for most adults, at least seven hours of sleep a night is needed for our minds and bodies to recharge. There is another important aspect to sleep though that is also part of God’s design for us to live and function well – our dreams. God speaks to us through dreams. When Joseph was brought from prison to interpret Pharaoh’s dream, he explained that the cows and corn that Pharaoh had seen as he slept had significant meaning, critical for the future of the country. The fat cows and full ears of corn represented abundance while the lean, ugly cows and withered, scorched ears of corn represented famine. There would be seven years of abundance in Egypt, followed by seven years of severe famine. It would happen soon and so Pharaoh needed to take action (Genesis 41:1–7, 25–32). We see here, and in the many dreams in Scripture, that God speaks through symbols in dreams. The cows and corn represented provision and food, the number seven represented years and the fact that the same point was made twice, with both cows and corn, meant that it would happen soon (verse 32). God’s use of symbols shows us that He loves to hide things for us to seek them out. In Proverbs 25:2 we read that “It is the glory of God to conceal a matter; to search out a matter is the glory of Kings.”
PHOTO GREG RAKOZY (UNSPLASH.COM)
CO N N ECT TO G O D
