Ever had a dream so silly you smile yourself awake?
That happened to me a while back.
The dream?
The classic Saturday Night Live Night at the Roxbury skit.
(The premise of guys going out looking for chicks admittedly isn’t all that in line with Christian values, so I won’t embed it the way I normally might. But the comedic execution is priceless, and it’s hard not to feel lighthearted when three guys are just out there bobbing their heads in synchronicity.)
As in, that’s all it was, as if my brain had simply recorded the TV and was processing through playback.
Not big communications, just everyday joy
Now, I know God likely didn’t hit the playback button on this one. (Again, premise.) But the feeling of silly contentment I had as I woke up made me wonder if perhaps God does give people small dreams just for fun.
Just so we can wake up feeling good.
Just because He has a sense of humor and knows how hard life can be if we don’t laugh.
We know from scripture that God does communicate with us through dreams. There are examples throughout the Bible, including classics like Joseph’s dream of his brothers bowing down, Solomon being asked what he wanted from God, and, later, Joseph (Mary’s betrothed) being told not to be afraid to take Mary as his wife.
But these are all big, serious communications. They make sense to record in scripture because they help flesh out God’s narrative and demonstrate His exceptional foresight and care. If God gave His servants silly dreams just to play and improve general wellbeing, perhaps by comparison they seemed too inconsequential to make note of.
Big sacrifice for a million small connections
I believe God is a God of joy. I don’t have a hard time imagining baby Jesus having a ball splashing in the bathwater, despite the fact He’d grow up to walk on the sea. As I’ve written before, He has sacrificed everything to be able to experience joy in relationship with us, to be relatable so we’re not afraid to approach. He is what I like to call — with absolutely no sacrilege or disrespect meant — a Taco God, the kind of Father you can sit on the couch and eat messy food with as you talk. I always stress He still expects us to honor Him, but there’s something wonderful to me in the consideration of how many meals He and the disciples ate together that weren’t the Passover.
So, if you wake up laughing, maybe write it down next time. It might be a blessing you’d get joy from remembering.