David Diga Hernandez - Is My Dream or Vision from God?

How to know if a dream or vision is from the Lord? Now that we have the Holy Spirit, we can interpret spiritual matters. When people in the world tap into the spiritual realm, it can often be very chaotic. They may catch glimpses, but many of their experiences lack structure; there may be no form or shape to what they see, and perhaps there is little detail in what they hear—just a muffled voice or certain figures and shadows that don’t always make sense. That’s not how God speaks. If you look throughout Scripture, His messages were always clear and coherent. Whenever someone struggled to understand a dream, it was always due to a lack of connection to God. Pharaoh had to go to Joseph, and Nebuchadnezzar had to consult Daniel. Different people turned to different men of God to ask for dream interpretations because they didn’t have the Spirit. Without the Spirit, they couldn’t interpret their dreams.

Here’s what the Bible says in Genesis chapter 40, verse 8: «They replied, 'We both had dreams last night, but no one can tell us what they mean.'» This is when Joseph speaks: «Interpreting dreams is God’s business. Go ahead and tell me your dreams.» Here we see that interpreting dreams is something God does, and it is also what His servants do. Those filled with the Holy Spirit are able to interpret dreams. In fact, I believe this is one way God can evangelize the lost. They have a dream, don’t understand its meaning—God is speaking to them, but they can’t grasp it. Then a Spirit-filled believer comes along, interprets their dream using biblical truths, and always points back to Jesus. Once that realization clicks, it makes sense, and the message is delivered in a way that they are ready to receive it.

If you aren’t hearing from God, your messages won’t be clear and coherent. We need to discard this idea that God throws a jumble of images at us and says, «Figure it out.» He is not doing that. He doesn’t hurl vague imagery, shapes, or sounds into our minds at night from Heaven, leaving us with puzzles to solve. Of course, we understand that in the Old Testament, prophets spoke in shadows, but they never spoke nonsense. Everything they said was clear, descriptive, and coherent. You could visualize their descriptions, grasping at least part of the message they conveyed, which ultimately led to a greater message.

Dreams from God for the Spirit-filled believer will always be clear and coherent. They won’t be intended for random interpretation, similar to how people interpret fortune cookies. No, when God speaks, He does so clearly and coherently. This is important to note because some believers get stuck here. They may eat food late at night, go to bed very late, watch a peculiar documentary, and then have a strange dream. They wonder what God is trying to communicate and may obsess about it for weeks or even months. I know people who have been anxious about dreams they didn’t understand for years, wondering if they missed something. They think God is saying, «You didn’t figure out the puzzle I sent; that’s on you.» No, He is not doing that.

When He speaks through the Holy Spirit, the communication is clear and coherent. This doesn’t mean we won’t receive bits and pieces; it does mean that those bits and pieces will have at least some coherence. Dreams from God are always clear for the Spirit-filled believer, which is one sign that they are from God. If they aren’t perfectly clear, they will at least be coherent, making them describable, words that can be put into writing. Why? Because God ensures there is coherence in the dream, so even if He hasn’t provided the interpretation directly, He may give it to someone else. You can seek counsel, wisdom from other believers, and pray about it. If it is from God, He will reveal its meaning to you, which is crucial to note. So, if it’s not perfectly clear, at the very least, it will be coherent, and there will be a purpose to it.

If you live righteously, your dreams will be clear. If you live wrongly, your dreams may be confusing. God speaks to His servants through dreams, and we, who are Spirit-filled, will be in the right mindset to decode and interpret those dreams. People with confusing dreams often don’t understand what God is trying to communicate because He may want to prompt them to seek out another believer for help. They should pray about it and possibly consult a wise leader, but there will be coherency present.