Dreams

Dreams.
We all have them.
We may not remember all of them.
We may not understand many of them.

Our most vivid dreams happen during rapid eye movement or REM sleep.
REM sleep is about one quarter of our total sleep, about 90-120 minutes each night.
The first REM sleep may occur about an hour after falling asleep.
The longest REM period usually occurs close to morning.

A newborn baby spends more than 80% of total sleep time in REM sleep.
REM deprivation is a real problem in our sleep-deprived culture.
A person can experience anxiety, irritability, and have difficulty concentrating.
Even knowing these things, we still try to jam pack our days with one more thing.

I do remember my dreams though I do not always understand them.
Some dreams are so real, I will wake up and for a second believe that they happened.
Some dreams linger with me throughout the day.
Some dreams are better left on my pillow.

Only once did I have a dream that crossed over into reality.
I was about 11 years old.
I dreamed about a dress.
I could see the dress clearly in my mind.

My mother and I went back-to-school shopping.
We were looking for fall clothes.
Mostly necessities were being purchased that day.
Until I saw a woman pushing a rack down the aisle.

It was filled with new clothes.
New clothes that were to be featured prominently on display.
New clothes that had not been advertised.
New clothes though not new to me.

At least one dress was not new to me.
I walked over to the rack.
The color blue caught my eye.
I expected to see white on top, and I did.

My dress! I said excitedly as the salesgirl looked at me.
My mother came over to see what I said and I pointed.
My dress. The one I dreamed about.
My mother and the salesgirl smiled, thinking they understood what I meant.

It was not until I got her alone that I explained to my mother.
I dreamed about THAT dress.
I never saw it before, but there it is, on the rack, just like my dream.
She looked at me with a confused expression.

Why don’t you try it on?
She didn’t have to fully understand.
She believed me even if it did seem odd to her.
I tried it on and it fit perfectly.

Jacob left Beersheba and set out for Haran. When he reached a certain place, he stopped for the night because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones there, he put it under his head and lay down to sleep. He had a dream in which he saw a stairway resting on the earth, with its top reaching to heaven, and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. There above it stood the Lord, and He said, “I am the Lord, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac. I will give you and your descendants the land on which you are lying. Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and to the east, to the north and to the south. All peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring. I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I promised you. When Jacob awoke from his sleep, he thought, “Surely the Lord is in this place and I was not aware of it! He was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God; this is the gate of heaven.” (Genesis 28:10-17)

Jacob dreamed of a ladder.
A ladder reaching from earth to heaven.
Jacob realized in faith that God was in that place.
Jacob did not fully understand that the Ladder in his dream was Jesus.

Jesus is the blessing that will come through Jacob’s offspring.
Jesus is the Bridge, the Ladder, and the Way.
In the Old Testament, faith meant waiting.
In the New Testament, faith means following.

Waiting for the Promised One.
Following the Promised One.

Early in the Gospel of John, we read that Peter and his brother, Andrew found Nathaniel.
Nathaniel was under the fig tree and like all good Jewish men, he prayed for the Messiah.
He could not fathom that Jesus was from Nazareth.
Nazareth! Can anything good come from there? Nathaniel asked. (John 1:46)

But Jesus met Nathaniel right at the point of his doubt.

When Jesus saw Nathaniel approaching he said of him, “Here is a true Israelite, in whom there is nothing false.” “How do You know me?” Nathaniel asked. Jesus answered, “I saw you while you were still under the fig tree before Philip called you. Then Nathaniel declared, “Rabbi, You are the Son of God; You are King of Israel.” Jesus said, “You believe because I told you I saw you under the fig tree. You shall see greater things than that.” He then added, “I tell you the truth, you shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.” (John 1:47-51)

Jacob’s dream in the Old Testament came true in the New Testament.
Jesus is the fulfillment of Jacob’s dream.
The vivid dream that Jacob had, but did not fully understand, came true.
The dream was fulfilled in the Person of Jesus Christ.

No longer a dream but a reality.
The now and not yet of the Kingdom.
The Present Reality of the Ladder of God.
Jesus.