Fish Dream
I dreamt Rick and I were sightseeing. We were with a group of people and somebody caught an unusual and beautiful fish. It was unlike anything we had ever seen and looked like something out of Avatar. It shimmered with silver, but the primary colors were blue and purple and they were spectacular.
There were three sections to the fish. The top part of the fish had what I would call “antenna’s” sticking out the top, but with several sections, not just two when you think of antennas. The body of the fish was in the middle and it was shaped like a normal fish, even a boat, but the difference was it had three bumps going across the top. They curved like mountain peaks or a camel’s hump along the top and each bump had a round top the shape of a ball, but not separated from the peak. The bottom part was separated by what appeared to be “antennas” which held the bottom from the middle of the fish. The bottom of the fish was flat and was shaped similar to what you see at the end of a whales tale.
Everybody was passing it around and holding it, when suddenly the right side of the top “ball” fell off. Everybody was taking turns holding it and then they asked me if I wanted to hold it. I said, “no thank you.” They said, “you have to hold it.” I said, “no, just hold it that way so I can get a picture for my Instagram.” “That’s all I need,” I said. They continued to push me to hold it, but I just kept saying “hold it this way so I can get a photo.” Rick and I didn’t feel the need to get a picturing holding it for ourselves. My feelings in the dream was the same as if I was really sightseeing,. I just wanted to get my photo and move on.
I vaguely remember this scene but we were still sight seeing and we got to a hotel. There seemed to be danger around us. Some robbers or thugs came around to attack us. I thought we ended up on handcuffs but were later set free. End of dream.
Interpretation
Upon waking up from this dream, immediately the Lord impressed upon my heart the meaning of this dream. I knew he was asking me to reflect on how I was spending my time on my mobile phone. I believe sharing this dream is beneficial for my soul, but I also can see that anyone who takes time for honest reflection and prayer could glean spiritual wisdom from it.
The fish is symbolic for the Trinity: The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. There are three sections and the middle section has three bumps or what I also described as peaks. Two instances of three for me reaffirms a spiritual message and the Trinity. Fish in general represents “fishers of men” and also Believers. I am a believer; a Christian. The bump that broke off confirmed Jesus Christ, “broken” for me/our sins. “But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed.” Isaiah 53:5 and I Peter 2:24
There is nothing wrong with sightseeing, but what God was impressing upon my heart was connected to how I take photos when I’m traveling and if and how I spend my time with the Lord in a similar manner. When it comes to taking photos , there are times, I simply just want the photo. I can’t say I’m as interested in a specific painting or building if it is not an iconic structure such as the Egyptian Pyramids or the Eiffel Tower. When it’s not something I’m too enthralled about, I take a photo, maybe two, and move on. When it’s an iconic statue, painting, or landmark, I have been known to take hundreds of photos.
I’m not a great photographer and I have to take several pictures to get one good photo. Do I treat God the same? Are some days a quick moment to get my devotion in for the sake of a devotion, or do I spend time seeking every angle with him because I truly want know more about Him? Am I taking all of him in or just the name of him without really taking in what I’m there to see? Like the fish in the dream, who also symbolizes God (or even church on Sunday), am I just there to see, check it, and move on? Do I really care what I’m looking at or is it more about what I’m going to upload so it’s what people will see, but not what I really took in and know for myself? Am I just checking off a box, a list from my bucket list, and moving on like I did in the dream?
I don’t like tours because they rush you in and out of one place to get you to the next sight. Too often you don’t get to enjoy the beauty around you because they take you long enough for you to say you were there. I don’t want that kind of relationship with Christ. I want to be in God’s presence long enough to have an experience with him. It may be by knowing his Word more deeply, meditating more on his character, hearing his still small voice. He doesn’t want me to rush my time with him. I do not want to have a “photo-moment” relationship with Jesus without meaning and purpose. I want to touch and feel the heart of God, every time. I don’t just want to say I saw what I came to see.
Upon waking up from this dream I knew the Lord was telling me, “delete your game apps.” I was spending too much idle time playing those games. Even if they weren’t taking away from my devotion time, they were distracting my mind in ways I had not experienced in the past. My mind would wander more when I am doing my devotions and I think this began when my time increased on my mobile phone. The Lord had been telling me to remove these apps and I had not followed through on it. This dream was the push I needed.
I feel like the ball also symbolizes what was breaking off on me, though ever so slightly.
My excuses have been many and one of them was even for health reasons. I love playing mindless games at the end of the evening when Rick and I are watching television. If we are watching a movie and strobe lights are flashing on the screen, I’ll listen to the movie, but watch my phone so I don’t have to take in the intense lights. I have a photo light sensitivity disorder that can trigger seizures. Nevertheless, the more one plays these types of games there’s no question they can become addicting. When I’m sitting at the doctor’s office I found my “go to” were those games, not a book. That was never the case in the past. I was finding it difficult to focus on a book when I would begin to read. I could not get around that nudge in my spirit where God was telling me to stop playing them. I knew they were adding zero value to my life.
I don’t believe I’m the only that knows instantly what they need to reorder in their day to draw closer in their relationship with the Lord. The first and oftentimes only step is just taking it and doing exactly what you know you are supposed to do, or not do.
When it comes to the use of our mobile phones, our time on social media, we could all take time to reflect on how this might look on a daily basis and what our actual relationship with the Lord looks like and in reality is like.
I saw a sign today up on Penang Hill in Georgetown Penang, Malaysia that said, “Go fast, see nothing.” In many ways this is what I was doing in the photo in my dream. I just wanted to see the fish and get “the” picture for my Instagram but was I really SEEING JESUS?
Do you have “photo-moments” with Christ?
Don’t rush through your time in prayer.
Don’t rush through your devotions. Spend sufficient time with Christ and prepare your heart to hear and see him.
How can less time on your mobile phone improve your relationship with God? Are you actually walking with Him when no one sees?
How do you utilize your time on your phone on an average day?
Does God get bypassed most of the time or does he get “just enough” of you, while the best of you is spent on photos, scrolling, social media,, etc?
God sees beyond the image to the truth of my heart.
Go fast, see nothing
What I share can inspire others, but what I live is what truly matters. Who I live for is what matters for eternity.
“The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.”
