Do God Dreams Have Symbols, and What Do They Mean?

Wading into the Pool of Dream Interpretation: Propane and Polar Bears

By Steven C Johnson

Do God dreams have symbols, and what do they mean? It’s a big question! I’d like to help you sleuth out meaning in your dreams.

Key Takeaways

• Dreams often contain symbolic language including wordplays, metaphors, and references that God uses to communicate with us
• Understanding your personal “dream vocabulary” develops over time as you notice patterns and recurring symbols
• Dream interpretation is like solving a spiritual puzzle—requiring Scripture, reflection, and sometimes outside perspective
• God often uses playful methods like puns (pro-pain) and contrasts (polar bears) to convey important spiritual truths
• The goal of dream interpretation isn’t just understanding but application—adjusting our thinking and behaviors in response

How God Speaks in Dreams

God speaks in dreams in many ways, including:

• Word plays and rhymes
• Pictures, images, and metaphors
• People who represent actions, attitudes, virtues or vices
• The meaning of the names of people, places and activities
• Numbers and colors

We learn a dream vocabulary by reflecting on repeating pictures. For example, I have come to learn the meanings of things like guns, rivers, alligators, police officers and telescopes by their repetition in my dreams. As tiny children we learn the meaning of cat, house and car as parents repeat the word and point.

I’ve also come to see that just as words in English may have different meanings, images may carry multiple meanings.

• A dog might be man’s best friend, or a vicious cur
• A lion could be friend or foe
• A star according to Scripture might represent an angel, the Devil or the Lord Jesus

By cross-referencing with Scriptures, dictionaries, online searches, considering colloquial expressions, and more, we begin to understand our dream language and develop our own dream dictionary.

The Joy of Dream Interpretation

We have a three-year-old granddaughter whose love for puzzles increases with her skill level. Do you like puzzles? If you do, and perhaps even if you don’t, you will love dream interpretation. Figuring out what my dreams mean has always been a treasure hunt adventure.

Life is intolerable without meaning. God wants us to understand and appreciate the glorious things He shares with us. Solomon said:

“It is the glory of God to conceal a matter; to search out a matter is the glory of kings” (Proverbs 25:2)

Propane Dreams: A Divine Wordplay

What would you think if you found propane repeated in dreams? Here are dream pieces where propane was an element:

• A man had a motorcycle. He told me it was powered by propane. His motorcycle sprouted wings and took off into the sky incredibly fast.
• A woman heated a cooking pan on a propane stove. After it was heated, she passed it through a mirror.
• A spaceship was powered by propane.
• A wood stove was converted to run with propane.

So what do you think propane conveys? I puzzled, looking for some time. After a while I saw it was one of God’s creative, playful puns. Can you see it?

Understanding the Pro-Pain Message

I began to see pro-pain. Consider the advantages which come to those willing to bear through pain. The athlete may say, “No pain, no gain.”

• The student, musician, and business person becomes successful as they endure pain to advantage
• The disciples of Jesus will endure pain to come into maturity and fruitfulness
• We admire people who pay prices, by going through pains to achieve

Pro-Pain was a lesson God was reinforcing in my life. Stick with things, work through things even when they are painful and you will gain a great reward. This is reinforced in many Scriptures. Consider 2 Timothy 2:3-7 speaking of the soldier, the athlete and the farmer:

“Join with me in suffering, like a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No one serving as a soldier gets entangled in civilian affairs, but rather tries to please his commanding officer. Similarly, anyone who competes as an athlete does not receive the victor’s crown except by competing according to the rules. The hardworking farmer should be the first to receive a share of the crops. Reflect on what I am saying, for the Lord will give you insight into all this.”

God may speak to us in sober, serious ways, but don’t be locked into a serious attitude and miss the Father’s playfulness with images. I’d like you to work with me and help me discover the meaning to my Polar Bear dreams. For 21 years I had polar bear dreams. As I skip through some, tell me what you think of these bears.

Polar Bear Dreams: A Series of Symbolic Encounters

3/9/97 GRAZING POLAR BEARS EAT GOATS

A small group of men were walking in a snowy wilderness. I asked them what they were doing. They said they were tracking polar bears. I turned and I saw a herd of polar bears grazing on grass. I was concerned that we might be attacked, but the men had no concern. I asked what they ate. I did not get an answer but as I looked I saw a couple goats. The bears attacked violently and ate them.

3/98 POLAR BEAR BY MAIL BOX

I was driving down a road with another man and saw a polar bear standing and leaning on a mailbox. A man was also next to the mailbox. The man was obviously intimidated and seemed in danger of being attacked. Perhaps 100 yards down the road there was a very similar situation.

1/2/2004 ALARMED BY POLAR BEAR IN HOME

I dreamed a polar bear was loose in our house. I was alarmed. My son was in the house and was not alarmed.

2/2/2007 POLAR BEAR CHASED FRIEND, THEN ME

A polar bear came into a huge barn and began sniffing near a friend. My friend ran. I laughed at his situation. Then I saw other polar bears coming in and walking around the barn. I ran!

12/2/2007 PEOPLE WERE ALSO POLAR BEARS

I was in a building in Russia. The people were somehow also polar bears. They were stocky and initially intimidating. I learned they were friendly. I talked to one woman and we embraced in a friendly way.

6/28/2014 DON’T PESTER POLAR BEARS

A polar bear lived in our house. A young man had been pestering the bear. I told him he should not do that. “The bear is dangerous and could rip your face off with one swipe.” I walked past the polar bear and called to it saying, “Come on, we’re going outside.”

3/1/2019 RUNNING AND HIDING FROM A POLAR BEAR

There was a polar bear in the house. I was afraid it was going to get me. I went out of the house. I was very thirsty and tired and moved very slowly.

7/12/2019 POLAR BEARS WILL COST YOU YOUR LIFE

I dreamed we had a polar bear in our house. I was a bit nervous with it around. He had gotten into a large can of peanut butter and had eaten it up. A woman was upset because it cost $6.

Interpreting the Polar Bear Symbol

What do you make of all these polar bears? What can we say about these polar bears generally? Here are some of the things which began to dawn on me:

• Polar bears are big powerful animals. It’s best if we are on good terms with them.
• They are all white, except their noses and the pads on their feet which are black. Yes, I know you can talk about their black skin and translucent hair, but they appear as black and white!
• These bears have sensitive black noses for discerning. God sniffs out evil and will not tolerate it. The bears in the first dream were peaceable, but not with the goats! The goats, those who did not minister to Jesus in the parable of Matthew 25, were devoured.

Finding God’s Character in the Polar Bears

I have always been a “shades of grey” thinker. I like to see different sides of a matter. I often look for truth in the middle. I avoided extremes.

My wife is far more of a black and white thinker. She sees things as true or false, right or wrong. I began realizing my shades of grey thinking was not “polar” enough.

God is “polar,” contrasting light and dark, and good and evil. God has standards and does not dwell in the grey zone. I should be more like Him.

Being “polar” means being more aware of extreme, contrasting differences. This will help me be more decisive. I can have stronger opinions, and standards which are clear and crisp.

There were times in my dreams where I was more nervous about the polar bears, and times where I was more at ease. The polar bears sniff out any goat-like qualities in us. When we are walking open and honest with God there is no need to fear His harsh judgments.

I am most nervous with God when I try to live in the grey. I become fearful of how God, or godly people, may evaluate me. The more I live in the light the less nervous I am. I am less nervous with the bears when my conscience is good, purely polar, without mixture.

God is thoroughly pure. He sniffs out darkness to reveal and devour it. This gives us the fear of God. His purity is His standard. And so we pray:

“Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting” (Psalm 139:23-24)

Applying Dream Insights to Daily Life

As with all dreams, the goal is not just to understand and interpret them but to make good applications, adjusting our thinking and behaviors. My application is to reverence God more seriously, invite His polar bear examinations, and welcome the bears as they sniff out things needing discernment!

Reflecting on these dreams helps me define in my own dream dictionary what polar bears represent, and how I should respond to them.

I’m sure you have many helpful insights. Please take a moment to write them for me.

---

The Journey Forward: Connecting and Growing Together

Join Our Community of Dream Interpreters

Subscribe, Connect and Share

• Receive regular insights on hearing God’s voice
• Connect with fellow listeners worldwide
• Access exclusive teaching content

Share Your Journey

• Share what God is speaking to you
• Reach a global audience of believers
• Learn from others’ experiences with God

Be Part of Something Bigger

Connect With Us Join our tribe as we discover what God is saying to Saints around the world through dreams, visions and prophetic impressions. Share what the Lord is giving you with others as we assemble the pieces of a grand picture the Holy Spirit is sharing with this last-days generation.

---

Frequently Asked Question

---

This is Steve Johnson with another Learning to Hear God’s Voice message from RevelationConnections.Vision

Join our community, subscribe, as we confer sharing our dreams, visions and prophetic impressions of what the Spirit is saying to the Church today!