Had a dream....could it have been from God?

Emerald518 · Nov 13, 2023

Ok, so I know dreams are kind of an "iffy" area in theology, so keeping that in mind here.

Four years ago, right before Christmas in 2019, I lost my grandmother, whom I was very close to, to a sudden illness, she was 88. That was during a time in my life when I wasn't walking with God, and since she's passed, I've always wondered about whether or not she made it Jesus, one of several things that has troubled me since her death.

Last night, I dreamt that I was back in her and my grandfather's house shortly after they both passed away, and it was empty, sad and lonely. I was offering to stay there until her affairs were settled so no one would break in the house. Then, out of nowhere, my grandmother just showed up and was alive again...

When I asked her where she'd been, she said that she hadn't died, but was only sleeping (and something else that sounded a lot like stuff she used to say, so I knew it was "her" that I was talking to), but she also looked physically different to me even though a lot of her features were the same...she was thinner, younger, more agile and her mind was very, very sharp. She was wearing a housecoat a lot like the ones she wore when I was a child and went and got a cup of coffee out of her kitchen after she said that to me, something she did reliably every morning once she got up.

After this in the dream, my grandmother and I sat in her living room, her on the couch and me on the floor and we just talked about things, cats being one of them (she loved our cats when she was alive). As I sat there and talked with her, I thought to myself that just because I had her with me now and that she'd "come back to life" didn't mean that I'd have her forever and that I was going to lose her eventually, something I frequently reminded myself of when she was alive...and right after that part of the dream, I woke up...

I've been praying to God a lot about my grandmother's eternity, telling Him how awful I would feel if she didn't make it to be with Him because of my failure to be a good witness to her while I did get to go and be with Him, almost as if I'd cheated her out of salvation...but about 2 weeks ago, God impressed it upon me that, how do I know that something I said or did when I was walking very closely with Him in my early days as a Believer before I temporarily fell away from Him didn't find its way into her heart somewhere and that God didn't use it to bring her to Himself in the last days/moments of her life?

My grandmother passed away in the hospital in a very traumatic way that I was witness to when it happened, but before my family had gotten there once we were notified that she'd coded blue, she had died once and the medical team that resuscitated her managed to revive her and she lived for several hours afterward. Having this dream was comforting to a degree, but I just wonder....

Any thoughts?

RileyG · Nov 13, 2023

I would not trust dreams.

You can always pray for your deceased grandmother because God exists outside of time and can take all prayers into account.

Blessings

tturt · Nov 14, 2023

Understand you being concerned about witnessing to her. But God uses many people and situations to reach out.

Know of many who have dreamed about someone they loved who has passed. The ones I know of are peaceful and content. Think your dream can help you.

The Liturgist · Nov 14, 2023

Emerald518 said:
Ok, so I know dreams are kind of an "iffy" area in theology, so keeping that in mind here.

Four years ago, right before Christmas in 2019, I lost my grandmother, whom I was very close to, to a sudden illness, she was 88. That was during a time in my life when I wasn't walking with God, and since she's passed, I've always wondered about whether or not she made it Jesus, one of several things that has troubled me since her death.

Last night, I dreamt that I was back in her and my grandfather's house shortly after they both passed away, and it was empty, sad and lonely. I was offering to stay there until her affairs were settled so no one would break in the house. Then, out of nowhere, my grandmother just showed up and was alive again...

When I asked her where she'd been, she said that she hadn't died, but was only sleeping (and something else that sounded a lot like stuff she used to say, so I knew it was "her" that I was talking to), but she also looked physically different to me even though a lot of her features were the same...she was thinner, younger, more agile and her mind was very, very sharp. She was wearing a housecoat a lot like the ones she wore when I was a child and went and got a cup of coffee out of her kitchen after she said that to me, something she did reliably every morning once she got up.

After this in the dream, my grandmother and I sat in her living room, her on the couch and me on the floor and we just talked about things, cats being one of them (she loved our cats when she was alive). As I sat there and talked with her, I thought to myself that just because I had her with me now and that she'd "come back to life" didn't mean that I'd have her forever and that I was going to lose her eventually, something I frequently reminded myself of when she was alive...and right after that part of the dream, I woke up...

I've been praying to God a lot about my grandmother's eternity, telling Him how awful I would feel if she didn't make it to be with Him because of my failure to be a good witness to her while I did get to go and be with Him, almost as if I'd cheated her out of salvation...but about 2 weeks ago, God impressed it upon me that, how do I know that something I said or did when I was walking very closely with Him in my early days as a Believer before I temporarily fell away from Him didn't find its way into her heart somewhere and that God didn't use it to bring her to Himself in the last days/moments of her life?

My grandmother passed away in the hospital in a very traumatic way that I was witness to when it happened, but before my family had gotten there once we were notified that she'd coded blue, she had died once and the medical team that resuscitated her managed to revive her and she lived for several hours afterward. Having this dream was comforting to a degree, but I just wonder....

Any thoughts?

I think its possible, particularly if the dream was comforting and did not include anything that could be considered false doctrine, or any instructions to do anything that could be considered contradictory to Christian references. In other words, if there was no trace of an ulterior motive.

There is a need to be cautious with dreams, because the devil and his demons make use of them to tempt us, mislead us and in some cases sadistically just to torture us with nightmares. In my childhood, when dreams would get too frightening, if I remembered to pray to God to be delivered from the dream, to wake up, I would always wake up and in a calm state of mind. Unfortunately for whatever reason the nightmares I have now tend to be immersive to the point where that does not work, and I feel I need to pray more.

If a dream is comforting however and does not contain any content that could be spiritually misleading, it might well be a dream sent for our comfort. It is extremely beneficial having what in Orthodoxy we call a gerons or geronda, or starets in the Slavonic language, a word meaning “elder” but not in the same sense as “presbyter”, but rather in the sense of a wise old person, who might well be a clergyman, and who should be approved by your presbyter in any case, who can provide you with spiritual advice; such a person can also be your confessor if they are a priest or monk authorized to hear confessions, and these can be very beneficial in, for example, helping you to discern if the dreams you have experienced are of a good or evil nature. I myself have a gerons who is different from the priests I normally confess to, but those priests are also helpful. In Orthodoxy, clergy are not required to give penances, and I have never received one, but a visiting Slavic priest to a church I often visit helped me with my bereavement following the death of a close relative, and the rector of that parish helped me overcome a lifelong fear of hearses. And then my gerons provides me with a great deal of advice relative to the different ministries I am engaged with.

BobRyan · Nov 14, 2023

Emerald518 said:
Ok, so I know dreams are kind of an "iffy" area in theology, so keeping that in mind here.

Four years ago, right before Christmas in 2019, I lost my grandmother, whom I was very close to, to a sudden illness, she was 88. That was during a time in my life when I wasn't walking with God, and since she's passed, I've always wondered about whether or not she made it Jesus, one of several things that has troubled me since her death.

Last night, I dreamt that I was back in her and my grandfather's house shortly after they both passed away, and it was empty, sad and lonely. I was offering to stay there until her affairs were settled so no one would break in the house. Then, out of nowhere, my grandmother just showed up and was alive again...

When I asked her where she'd been, she said that she hadn't died, but was only sleeping (and something else that sounded a lot like stuff she used to say, so I knew it was "her" that I was talking to), but she also looked physically different to me even though a lot of her features were the same...she was thinner, younger, more agile and her mind was very, very sharp. She was wearing a housecoat a lot like the ones she wore when I was a child and went and got a cup of coffee out of her kitchen after she said that to me, something she did reliably every morning once she got up.

After this in the dream, my grandmother and I sat in her living room, her on the couch and me on the floor and we just talked about things, cats being one of them (she loved our cats when she was alive). As I sat there and talked with her, I thought to myself that just because I had her with me now and that she'd "come back to life" didn't mean that I'd have her forever and that I was going to lose her eventually, something I frequently reminded myself of when she was alive...and right after that part of the dream, I woke up...

I've been praying to God a lot about my grandmother's eternity, telling Him how awful I would feel if she didn't make it to be with Him because of my failure to be a good witness to her while I did get to go and be with Him, almost as if I'd cheated her out of salvation...but about 2 weeks ago, God impressed it upon me that, how do I know that something I said or did when I was walking very closely with Him in my early days as a Believer before I temporarily fell away from Him didn't find its way into her heart somewhere and that God didn't use it to bring her to Himself in the last days/moments of her life?

My grandmother passed away in the hospital in a very traumatic way that I was witness to when it happened, but before my family had gotten there once we were notified that she'd coded blue, she had died once and the medical team that resuscitated her managed to revive her and she lived for several hours afterward. Having this dream was comforting to a degree, but I just wonder....

Any thoughts?

Read 1 Thess 4:13-18 very carefully... also Ecclesiastes 9:5. The one who dies records zero time - they are instantly at the 1 Thess 4:13-18 event and if you are saved - then you are right there with them. They experience no loss, no separation from saved loved ones. They are immediately at the 1 Thess 4:13-18 event.

13 But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, about those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve as indeed the rest of mankind do, who have no hope. 14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose from the dead, so also God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep through Jesus. 15 For we say this to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16 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. 17 Then we who are alive, who remain, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. 18 Therefore, comfort one another with these words.

Emerald518 · Nov 14, 2023

Thanks all...after thinking about it carefully, I think this was just one of those dreams where my mind was processing through things I've been thinking about lately, nothing special. However, I have had at least one instance of an authentic dream from God, but that one wasn't like this.

Richard T · Nov 14, 2023

Emerald518 said:
Thanks all...after thinking about it carefully, I think this was just one of those dreams where my mind was processing through things I've been thinking about lately, nothing special. However, I have had at least one instance of an authentic dream from God, but that one wasn't like this.

Hi, I just thought I would add that it is sometimes hard to know. That this issue is on your mind is interesting. Perhaps you can use it in a Godly way. First, that you are not responsible for your grandmother, nor of course do not know her state of salvation. So, as the dream suggests, I would let that go to God and try to drive out all condemnation against yourself. Secondly, as you have a heart to witness, that is a great thing. Why not try to learn and do more in that area to others that are alive? I am trying myself and making some progress though I am hoping for more. Regardless, I do pray you can relax in God, and get even closer to his heart and will.

RandyPNW · Nov 14, 2023

Emerald518 said:
Ok, so I know dreams are kind of an "iffy" area in theology, so keeping that in mind here.

Four years ago, right before Christmas in 2019, I lost my grandmother, whom I was very close to, to a sudden illness, she was 88. That was during a time in my life when I wasn't walking with God, and since she's passed, I've always wondered about whether or not she made it Jesus, one of several things that has troubled me since her death.

Last night, I dreamt that I was back in her and my grandfather's house shortly after they both passed away, and it was empty, sad and lonely. I was offering to stay there until her affairs were settled so no one would break in the house. Then, out of nowhere, my grandmother just showed up and was alive again...

When I asked her where she'd been, she said that she hadn't died, but was only sleeping (and something else that sounded a lot like stuff she used to say, so I knew it was "her" that I was talking to), but she also looked physically different to me even though a lot of her features were the same...she was thinner, younger, more agile and her mind was very, very sharp. She was wearing a housecoat a lot like the ones she wore when I was a child and went and got a cup of coffee out of her kitchen after she said that to me, something she did reliably every morning once she got up.

After this in the dream, my grandmother and I sat in her living room, her on the couch and me on the floor and we just talked about things, cats being one of them (she loved our cats when she was alive). As I sat there and talked with her, I thought to myself that just because I had her with me now and that she'd "come back to life" didn't mean that I'd have her forever and that I was going to lose her eventually, something I frequently reminded myself of when she was alive...and right after that part of the dream, I woke up...

I've been praying to God a lot about my grandmother's eternity, telling Him how awful I would feel if she didn't make it to be with Him because of my failure to be a good witness to her while I did get to go and be with Him, almost as if I'd cheated her out of salvation...but about 2 weeks ago, God impressed it upon me that, how do I know that something I said or did when I was walking very closely with Him in my early days as a Believer before I temporarily fell away from Him didn't find its way into her heart somewhere and that God didn't use it to bring her to Himself in the last days/moments of her life?

My grandmother passed away in the hospital in a very traumatic way that I was witness to when it happened, but before my family had gotten there once we were notified that she'd coded blue, she had died once and the medical team that resuscitated her managed to revive her and she lived for several hours afterward. Having this dream was comforting to a degree, but I just wonder....

Any thoughts?

I can tell you things I believe based upon the discernment God has given me as a special gift. Many people will be saved that never knew the full Gospel in this life. Salvation is indeed based on Christ alone, but Christ knows what people knew or didn't know in life.

If you loved your grandmother that much, I highly doubt she was lost. Wonderful people are going to be saved, if not by what they knew in this life, it will be because of what they in their hearts would've wanted to do had they known Christ well.

Bobber · Nov 17, 2023

Emerald518 said:
Thanks all...after thinking about it carefully, I think this was just one of those dreams where my mind was processing through things I've been thinking about lately, nothing special. However, I have had at least one instance of an authentic dream from God, but that one wasn't like this.

I think that's probably true. About your feeling guilt over failures you perceive or think you committed. Maybe not being the best of witness etc. I've thought about this much in life. You know the generations above us, and you speak of your grandmother so that's two generations. You know they've had a lot of years of opportunity to come to know God.

So when you were just a kid she was probably over 40. God might have been trying to speak to her through all those many years of 40 before you even came on the scene. Yes we hope your grandmother made it we can have the Blessed Hope but don't you get under condemnation where you're feeling maybe you didn't do enough or it's somewhat your fault. No way. We do the best we can in life but none of us are perfect either.

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Had a dream....could it have been from God?

Emerald518

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RileyG

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tturt

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The Liturgist

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BobRyan

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Emerald518

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Richard T

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RandyPNW

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