While You are Sleeping
A Journalistic Expose on Sleep and Dreams
What the Bible says About Dreams
An Interview with Dr. Duvall
Today God talks to us through the bible. It would stand to reason that the places where the people have no access to the bible, or any Christian resources, one would have the highest likelihood of receiving a message from God in a dream.
According to Open Doors USA, here are the top 10 countries where it is most difficult to be a Christian:
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North Korea
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Somalia
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Iraq
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Syria
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Afghanistan
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Sudan
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Iran
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Pakistan
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Eritrea
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Nigeria
Nightmares
Geography of Divine Dreams
We know of Bible stories where God speaks to people through dreams. Dr. Scott Duvall, a Christian studies professor at Ouachita Baptist University, discusses what that tells us about how God speaks to us today.
“When Jesus was helpless as an infant and Joseph could have easily walked into a trap, God the Father really intervened to say, ‘I can’t let this happen,’” said Duvall. “He is just protecting the child and his family. I think that would be a really good example of how a dream would be used by God to help us.”
Does God speak to us in dreams today? Duvall thinks, probably not. Today we have resources that the people in the old testament did not have access to. When God speaks to us He uses the Bible, our Christian community, or really any other way that would get our attention.
“I don’t ever like to put God in a box on that stuff, I mean He can do whatever He wants,” said Duvall. “Usually if He is going to communicate with us. I’ve found it would be through the Bible or our community, which includes really close friends, and through the thoughts that he puts in our minds.”
If we think God is telling us something there are a few resources we have to make sure. Duvall explained that anything that God tells us will be in line with what the Bible says and with what we know to be true about God.
What about the parts of the world where the Bible is illegal and there is no Christian community to speak of? Christians believe that God is always with us, even in those areas of the world. If God want’s to speak to the people living in those areas, He will.
“God has spoken to us in the scriptures and when people don’t have access to that God really has to speak in some way to them,” said Duvall. “It seems like it happens less in the developed world where people have access to scriptures rather then in the underdeveloped world.”
Below is a map with red circles around the areas where being a Christian is considered most dangerous.