Question from a reader:

Since my husband died, he has come to me several times in a dream and spoken to me. Several pictures have also popped up on my phone, that never have before, on special days for our family. However, some people are telling me that there’s no way he can be communicating with me.

A close family member never showed physical affection. After she died, she came to me in a dream and was very affectionate. We had a horrible relationship, and I had to go through years of therapy to help heal that wound. She’s helped heal that wound after her death. She said in the dream she was sorry, and she is all-knowing now.

Even church people have told me this can’t happen, and that it’s evil spirits tricking me. Please ease my mind.

Answer from Stephanie Anderson, EPM staff:

I’m so sorry to hear of your loss. It’s tricky to know what to say in response to your questions. On one hand, we don’t want to limit what God can or cannot do using dreams and other means. He can use anything to communicate with humans (even Balaam’s donkey!). And it’s true dreams can be a means He uses to give us messages (Joel 2:28). For example, the dream about your family member could very well have been a sweet gift from God, offering your heart healing and needed closure.

On the other hand, we want to be careful not to go beyond what Scripture says about dreams, and contact with our loved ones who have died. Your mention of her saying she is “all-knowing now” troubles me. Only God is omniscient, and we will never be God (nor would He ever send us a message telling us we will be), although in the life to come, those who love Jesus will continue to grow in our love and knowledge, especially once we’re living unhindered by sin’s consequences.

What I can do is share what we often send readers who ask us similar questions.

See this article from one of our staff.

And here’s a similar question I answered.

Also see Randy’s article on Can We or Should We Talk to Loved Ones in Heaven?

(As he explains in that article, we want to avoid anything that leads to obsession or seeking contact with our departed loved ones, which is expressly forbidden in Scripture.)

You might also like to read: Can Our Loved Ones in Heaven See Us During Important Times in Our Lives?

And in this article, we answer the question, Do Those in Heaven Still Think and Care about Their Loved Ones?

Finally, we often recommend Beyond the Darkness: A Gentle Guide for Living with Grief and Thriving after Loss by Clarissa Moll, a young widow. You might like to learn more about her writing and ministry.

The goal of our ministry is always to point readers to Jesus. He is our ultimate comfort in grief. Our relationships with loved ones are interrupted at death; but our relationship with Jesus can never be lost. Only He can satisfy our deepest needs.

Far more than our perceived need for communication with our departed loved ones, we need Jesus. In His time and way, we will be reunited with those who have gone before us to Heaven. In the meantime, over and over again in His word, God promises to be with us, to never forsake us, to comfort and lead and guide us. I pray that your relationship with Him will go ever deeper in this season of suffering, and you’ll be able to say with the Psalmist, “Yahweh is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, My God, my rock, in whom I take refuge; My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold” (Psalm 18:2).

God bless you, and may you experience a precious closeness to Jesus as you trust Him.

Photo: Unsplash