God Can Use a Dream to Save Your Life

by Lauren Stinton

God speaks through dreams all the time—even to those who don’t know Him! 

The first dream recorded in Scripture was given to a king named Abimelech, who wasn’t a believer in the normal sense. The king sees how beautiful Sarah is and—not knowing she’s Abraham’s wife—takes her into his harem. 

But God comes to Abimelech in a dream and says: 

Behold, you are a dead man because of the woman whom you have taken, for she is a man’s wife . . . Now then, return the man’s wife, for he is a prophet, so that he will pray for you, and you shall live. But if you do not return her, know that you shall surely die, you and all who are yours. (Gen. 20:3, 7 ESV)

Here are a few things we can learn from this first dream in the Bible:

1. If God speaks audibly in a dream, it’s usually literal, not metaphorical. 

1. If God gives instructions or a warning in a dream, we need to quickly do what He says. 

1. God does give warnings in dreams. Why? Because He’s helping us, protecting us, and keeping our life from the pit, like Job 33:18 talks about. 

1. A dream can change a person’s life! What would have happened if Abimelech had ignored this dream? His family line would have ended because everyone became barren. Ishmael and Isaac wouldn’t have existed, because Sarah was no longer with Abraham. History would look significantly different! But God trusted the future of His plans to a dream. 

If God thinks dreams are this important, let’s match our opinions to His. His voice is life for us, and we study dreams because we want to hear Him more.