The armies of Midian, Amalek, and the people of the east had settled in the valley like a swarm of locusts. Their camels were like grains of sand on the seashore—too many to count! Gideon crept up just as a man was telling his companion about a dream. The man said, “I had this dream, and in my dream a loaf of barley bread came tumbling down into the Midianite camp. It hit a tent, turned it over, and knocked it flat!” [Judges 7.12-13]
What's in a dream?
Who really knows? But in an age when the supernatural seems non-existent, dreams keep that realm almost tangible.
As the story of Gideon goes, the Midinaite's dream that Gideon overheard served as a source of encouragement and confirmation to Gideon. To the Midianite, it served as a warning - or probably more as a bad omen - of the pending defeat Midian was about to experience.
Look at it this way, that one dream perhaps gave Gideon the final push he needed to accomplish one of the most amazing military feats on record. On the other hand, that one and same dream possibly planted a seed of doubt in Midian that led to mass confusion and panic.
What I found most interesting today in the account of this fateful dream was that I too had a dream last night that was actually on my mind as I began reading about Gideon today. Naturally, with my dream on my mind, when I read about the dream in Judges 7 today, it piqued my interest.
My dream was about a walking leaf. It seems the leaf (a long fibrous green leaf curled and dead-looking on the end) kept falling from the plant it was on only to inch its way back up the plant repeatedly as I watched. There were others there with me to whom I remarked about this walking leaf.
I have no explanation for my dream. But somehow, it encourages me - I have no idea why, but it does.
Father, I am hesitant to share a dream here, but it was in fact my dream last night and I am open to whatever it may mean - if anything. Thank you for the inspiration from Gideon to at least pay attention to a dream!
No comments:
Post a Comment