Does being retired give folks the space they need to daydream? Of course, one would assume that retirees who no longer hold jobs would have plenty of time for daydreaming, seeing visions or experiencing a few hallucinations.
Some people daydream about what they would like to happen or who or what they hope to become. Some who feel lucky daydream about the millions they might win in the lottery. Then a few of us no longer daydream as we are too busy being distracted and absentminded as we search for our lost keys and glasses.
Are daydreams a waste of time? Do they focus on what doesn't seem possible, and are they nothing more than an evasion of doing what needs to be done?
Some have skepticism about visions in dreams, as reported in the Bible. For example, in Acts 16:8-15, Paul had a vision of a man of Macedonia begging him to come to help them. Paul understood the vision to mean that God was calling himself and those with him, Silas and Timothy, to go to Macedonia to preach the gospel there.
Paul and his companions went to Macedonia and began preaching the gospel in the Roman city of Philippi. There they met Lydia, a dealer of purple cloth from the city of Thyatira. The Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul’s message. Lydia and the members of her household received baptism. She invited Paul and his companions to stay at her home. Paul trusted his vision and went to Macedonia. It was where God wanted him to go. Paul knew that if a vision seems to be from God, one should act upon it. One should also act upon God’s words of instruction.
Timothy, a young man who traveled with Paul and Silas on their missionary trip to Macedonia, became one of the people Paul entrusted to help congregations to form God-pleasing fellowships. Paul instructed Timothy about the elements of worship that Timothy was to teach the members of congregations to follow. His good instructions would become empty daydreams if they didn't follow them.
Congregations today still find blessing if they put into practice these instructions. Requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving are to be made for everyone. Particularly for kings (prime ministers/premiers) and all those in authority so that people are able to live peaceful and quiet lives in godliness and holiness. Those worshiping God know that He wants all people to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God and one mediator between God and people, the man Christ Jesus who gave himself as a ransom for all people. All Christian believers everywhere are to lift up hands in prayer without anger or disputing. (1 Timothy 2:1-6, 8)
In John 5:1-15, an invalid daydreamed of a cure in the pool called Bethesda in Jerusalem. When asked by Jesus if he wanted to get well, the invalid explained someone else had gotten into the pool before him. So, Jesus told him, "Get up! Pick up your mat and walk. At once, the man was cured and picked up his mat and walked.” (Verses 8-9) Following Jesus's instructions was life-changing for him. Instructions from God can change your life if you act upon them.
