Expert: Dr Don Howe - 1/12/2009

Question
Hi, I just wanted to know if there was any chance you might be able to help me get an understanding of a dream that I had last night. Before I describe it though, I just thought that I should mention that when I went to bed, I was listening to the dramatic audio of "Glorious Appearing", one of the Left Behind novels, so it might be part of the reason for the dream.

So, from what I can remember from this dream, I recall that I and some other people who I have never seen before, were running from some military type people. Wr are caught and next thing I know, everyone of us are fearing that we are about to be put to death by some form of execution. However, as soon as its about to happen, we are suddenly snatched away by a bright light and the next thing we now, we are standing with Jesus and I find myself fighting to get back to help other people. With this dream, I actually felt the feeling and actually remember how scared I was and running with these others and the feeling of being captured. It was such a visual dream that even 12 hours later, I can remember the details of the faces and the colors I was seeing. Just wanted to know if there is anyway to decipher what it could mean.

Answer
  Thank you for your question. It is not unusual for us to have dreams about what we have seen or read during the day. Our brain remembers everything from the time you are born til Jesus takes you to Glory. Every sound you have heard or anything you have seen has been recorded in your mind. And when you are having your REM sleep this when your brain is categorizing everything that has happened during the day, and the time also when we are dreaming. REM stands for Rapid Eye Movement. REM sleep is very important in everyone’s sleep time. There has been research done that scientist can tell from brain waves when we enter the REM sleep and then would wake the subject up and not allow them to complete the REM stage. After several days of doing this, the subject becomes psychotic. Same thing happens when people get jacked up on crack cocaine or speed and they are not able to sleep, so they take other substances to make them crash and sleep. They need the REM sleep.
   Sleep study labs are popular now as doctors are aware of the importance of the REM sleep.    
   Jessica, have you ever went to sleep at night and you woke up not feeling rested or tired. It is because sometime during the night, your REM sleep has been interrupted for some unknown reason or maybe you have not completed your REM sleep, and as result you do not feel rested.
  Some of these dreams we can remember vividly about them and sometimes we remember only bits and pieces. Sometimes our mind produces some very weird dreams and things we do not understand. But God created the greatest computer in the world called our brain. Man will never be able to create such a computer as great as our brain.
   I believe sometimes God will communicate with us through a dream. The Prophet Daniel experienced such dreams, which God specifically gave to him for a specific reason.  God gave Daniel special revelations about some things he wanted communicated or recorded in His Word during the specific time Daniel was living. No,  we have the Lord Jesus who has died for us and the complete canon of the Bible, which is God’s general revelation to all men. But I believe that God can communicate with us personally through dreams if He wants to. God can do anything He wants to because He is Sovereign over all.
   You were listening to an audio and reading a novel about the Rapture and this is probably what you were dreaming about. I would not worry so much about the specific details about events, people, or occurrences in your dream, as sometimes our brains produce dreams which make no sense, because we only remember bits and pieces most of the time. But believe in the message of the Rapture that God has given to you.
  1 Thess. 4:16 tells us about this event. “For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of {the} archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.” Notice that the Lord descends from heaven with a shout but does not come to the earth. There is shout in heaven, a voice, and a trumpet. This is well announced but will happen in the twinkling of an eye. As fast light can travel we will be out of here and in the presence of the Lord. This is what you were dreaming about and good thing to be dreaming I might add. When the Lord returns to earth, we who have gone up with him at the Rapture, will be coming back with the Lord at the end of the Tribulation period.
   Just keep praising the Lord, serving and loving him, and the Blessed Hope will come, but so will the blessings in your life for the journey you are taking in glorifying him.    

Blessings.

Dr Don Howe, RN, PhD, ThD