Solomon says that dreams come “through the multitude of business.” Our
night thoughts are like our day thoughts, except that our faculties being
partly asleep, our dreams usually lack the coherence and the
reasonableness of our waking thoughts. God does occasionally, at rare
intervals, operate upon men’s minds to cause them to dream something; but
even the prophets with whom he thus communicated more than with ordinary
men received such messages only now and then, and their other dreams had
no significance.
Many people are always trying to find some hidden meaning in their dreams.
If they have some peculiar dream, they try to interpret it or to get
somebody else to do so. Now, God is reasonable. He knows that we can
better comprehend when we are awake than when we are asleep; so he usually
communicates with us during our waking hours. We sometimes have very
striking dreams, but this does not signify that the Lord originated them.
I have known people to act very unwisely as the result of following
dreams. One night a preacher, who was holding a series of meetings,
dreamed of having a terrible fight with a great snake. When he awoke, he
felt that surely the Lord was trying to show him something. He interpreted
the dream to mean that somebody in the congregation was represented by
that snake. The next day he told his dream in the meeting and said that he
thought he knew who the snake was. He began acting upon his supposition.
The result was that at least two of the congregation backslid over it, and
the whole church was thrown into confusion.
A dream is a dream, and possibly not more than one in ten thousand come
from God. There are times, however, when we may learn good lessons from
our dream thoughts as well as from our waking thoughts. One such dream I
once had, and the lesson I derived from it has been good for my soul. I
dreamed that I stood beside a gigantic wild rosebush. In my hand I held
one of the beautiful fragrant flowers. I looked at it and drank in its
rich perfume, but I saw a great number of flowers, and I desired more than
the one, so I held it in my left hand and began to reach up for others.
They were very high, so I pressed against the outer limbs and stretched to
my utmost, but they were too high; I could not get them. I stepped back
from the bush. As I did so, my gaze fell upon the rose in my hand just in
time to see its petals fall to the ground. In stretching for those beyond
my reach, I had ruined the one that was already mine. I gazed upon the
empty stem in my hand and at the bruised petals upon the ground with a
feeling of regret.
The scene changed. I sat at a desk with pencil and paper, and in my dream
wrote these words: “If you have but one rose, enjoy it to the full. Do not
let its perfume be wasted upon the empty air, and its beauty go unnoticed,
while you spend your time in vain longing for the unattainable.” When I
awoke I wrote down the words that I had written in my dream, and through
the years they have preached to me many a sermon.
How natural it is for us to forget what we have while we look at others
whom we think to be more fortunate! We look at the blessings that others
enjoy and forget to be thankful for our own. We look at others’
possessions, and because they are greater than ours, we fail to appreciate
what we have. Our position in life may be very humble, but however humble,
our life is full of blessings if we but have eyes to see them.
When I had this dream, my health was gone, and I lay alone in my bed
throughout the long hours of the day while my wife was away working for
our support. My eyes were so I could read but a very little. We had two
rooms in a house with another family. All around us were people with
health and plenty. I could easily realize the difference between my
situation and theirs. Sometimes I would look out of the window and see
people passing, strong and vigorous and care-free. I would hear the gay
laughter and the sound of happy voices, while I—there I lay suffering and
alone. How easy it was to see their blessings! and in seeing theirs, how
easy it was to forget my own!
But this dream came upon the morning of my birthday; and as I lay there
thinking it over, I determined that in the coming year I would not let my
one rose be spoiled because I was reaching for that which was beyond my
reach. I decided to enjoy my own blessings. If others were more blessed
than I, should I not rejoice in the fact? Longing to be like them would
not make me so. If I had but little to enjoy, I would enjoy that little.
So I began to look at my blessings, and as I looked them over I found them
greater than I had supposed. I had many things to give me comfort. I had
food to satisfy my hunger. I had a home and clothing. I had the loving
care of a faithful wife. I had kind friends who gave to me freely of their
sympathy and who were ready to grant my every wish so far as it lay in
their power. Better than all else, I had the peace of God in my heart. I
began to realize that my state might be far worse.
The more I thought, the more I saw for which to be thankful. The more I
considered my blessings, the more I appreciated them. And many a time
since have I looked out upon the passers-by or listened to their
merriment, and have said to myself, “I would not exchange places with you;
for I am saved; I have the treasure of God’s love; I have the presence of
the Holy Spirit; I have the joys of salvation; I have a mansion in
heaven.” I knew that most of the passers-by did not have these things, and
so I was blessed more than they. What were health and strength when put to
a wrong use? What were temporal blessings that ministered only to
selfishness? What were the joy and gaiety that ignored God? What were the
pleasures of sin, when they only laid up a harvest of sorrow? Ah no, I had
no reason to envy them, for my blessings were greater and would not fade
away like mist before the sun.
My brother, my sister, you may be happy in your own little corner if you
will learn the lesson of enjoying what you have. Learn to be content with
common things. Learn that the truest joy does not come from external
things. It springs spontaneously from a contented heart. If God wills that
you be situated as you are, will he not make you happy where you are? The
Bible says, “Godliness with contentment is great gain ... Having food and
raiment let us be therewith content” (1 Tim. 6: 6-8). You may not have
much of this world’s goods; you may not have many talents; your blessings
may seem few; but remember my dream message—“If you have but one rose,
enjoy it to the full.” If another has both hands filled, he may enjoy them
less than you enjoy your one, unless you look with envious eyes. Sometimes
a little perfume is sweeter than an abundance. Do not spend your days in
vain longing. Do not despise what you have because it is not greater.
Cultivate the habit of thankfulness and appreciation. Be glad for what you
have. Be contented. Better your condition if you can, but do not spoil
what you have in reaching for more. If you have but one talent, use it for
the Lord and be thankful for it. Do not depreciate it because others have
several talents. Use it and be content. Happiness consists not in the
things we have, but in our appreciation and use of them. So enjoy your one
rose. Drink in its sweet perfume; gaze upon its beauteous colors. Enjoy it
to the full.