“Although Joseph recognized his brothers, they did not recognize him. Then he remembered his dreams about them and said to them,‘You are spies! You have come to see where our land is unprotected.’” (Gen. 42:8-9)
Joseph had déjà vu when his brothers came before him. A flashback
to a dream he had as a child that was actually a flash forward to this
very moment as adults. God gave Joseph a glimpse of their future.
Almost everyone has had déjà vu. This experience which puzzles
most people is easily explained by God who is Omniscient. God
knows all, the past, present, and future. He knows every event, every
thought, every situation that each of us will encounter. He sees everything
we will see; He knows how we will feel when we step into the
event. I believe He chooses significant situations or events from our
future and downloads a snapshot or video of them into our soul. He
intends to use these “snapshot” events to get our attention. We may
be oblivious to what that is, until now.
Eventually we see a scene, come upon an event, encounter a
situation and God activates the “snapshot,” déjà vu scene in our mind.
We feel like we’ve seen it, been there or done that before.
God is connecting us to Himself through these experiences. He
wants us to know He is wooing us, and has always been with us. He’s
calling us — as if He’s jumping up and down, waving His arms and
shouting: “I Love you! I’m thinking of you! I planned this from your
beginning so that you know I’m in control of all things. I’m proving
to you that I know all things and can see your future before it
happens. My proof is that you will feel you’ve seen the scene before.
That’s Me!”
Jesus said it this way: “I am telling you now before it happens, so that
when it does happen you will believe that I am He” (John 13:19). Jesus
said this to His disciples, as they were about to betray Him. However,
Jesus was also speaking directly to us, His ultimate logic: When I
tell you your future, then it will happen and “you will believe that I
am He.”
God reveals our future through the Bible prophecies, but He also
does so personally: déjà vu.
Once we understand this mysterious déjà vu experience comes
from God, we can come to the full and greater realization: God is
with us! When we connect the dots that all good things go back
to God’s Hand, our faith grows! Our relationship with Him goes
beyond begging (we call it “praying,” it sounds better). Asking with
faith takes on a new life with Christ. We believe He knows all, so
when we don’t get what we “beg” for, we have the best answer: God
saying, “Patience. Right now I’m developing faith in you. I want you
to become like my Son.” Miracle provisions are nice, but becoming
like Jesus is the ultimate good (Rom. 8:28-30).