If there is one thing I am eager to do, it is to escape suffering. If there is anything I can do to minimize or diminish pain in my life, then I am eager to embrace it. It was therefore with keen interest that I came across this verse:
"For God does speak --now one way, now another-- though man may not perceive it. In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falls on men as they slumber in their beds, he may speak in their ears and terrify them with warnings, to turn man from wrongdoing and keep him from pride, to preserve his soul from the pit, his life from perishing by the sword." Job 33:14-18
Job tells me that God sends me warnings in my dreams, so I can take action and avoid coming harm. As I have read through the Bible, I have seen this principle to be true from Genesis to Revelation.
God sent Pharaoh a dream so Egypt could be spared the ravages of a terrible famine. Genesis 41
Solomon was given the gift of Wisdom in a dream so he could successfully rule over Israel. 1 Kings 3:5
Pilate's wife was given a dream to warn her husband not to harm Jesus. Matthew 27:19
And of course the book of Revelation is a visionary warning to prepare God's people for all the troubles that will be coming upon the earth in the last days. As I have taken my own dreams seriously these past six years, I have found it to be absolutely true that if I will heed my dream warnings, I can minimize suffering in the lives of myself, my family and my friends. Now it does take skill, effort, study, prayer and practice to correctly interpret one's dreams, but I am here to add my testimony with Job that God is constantly sending all of us warnings through dreams.
If you would like help in learning how to interpret these warnings, then I recommend you get this book -- Breakthrough Dreaming, by Dr. Gayle Delany (Bantam Book, 1991). Or you can also write to me at the address in the front of this book for a copy of my own booklet, Dream Kindergarten.
If you want to reduce the amount of suffering in your life, then learn to interpret your dreams. Believe me, you'll be glad you did!