Don't Give Up Your Dream

“Trust in the Lord with all of your heart and lean not on your own understanding; Acknowledge Him in all of your ways and He will make your paths straight.”

                                                                                                         Proverbs 3:5-6

     There are many ways that God leads people.  The primary way he does it is through the written word, the Bible.  There is enough revealed in the Bible about God's will for our lives that if we would just start doing the simple things it says to do, we would find ourselves fulfilling a big part of His plans for us.  God also plants dreams in people's hearts.  He plants desires in our minds to start or build something in this world that will bring Him glory.  These dreams often take many years to come to fruition due to God's timing and many times due to our inability to understand and act on the dream.

     There were many people in the Bible that were given dreams.  The person that immediately comes to mind is Joseph.  The story is found in Genesis 37.  There is an amazing statement found in verse 5 of this chapter, “Joseph dreamed a dream, and told it to his brothers, and they hated him yet the more.”  There are two principles here that everyone should remember: First, don't judge the validity of your dream by everyone's reaction to it.  Joseph's dream was from God, regardless of what his brothers thought of it!  The second principle is don't be surprised if the people closest to you try to squash your dream.  They simply may not understand it, or they may have pinned up jealousy that causes them to act out in anger instead of encouraging you.  This was the case with Joseph's father and his brothers.

     Follow the story of Joseph, and you will see some other principles of fulfilling your God given dream.  Joseph's brothers plotted to get rid of him.  He ended up going down into a pit as a victim, then to the palace as a slave, and then to the prison as a criminal.  One principle I see working here is that we often have to go backward before we go forward, or we have two go down before we start to go up.  Just because Joseph had a God given dream, it did not protect him from experiencing rejection, hard labor, misunderstanding, slander, and false imprisonment. 

     Also, just as people's reactions are not gauges for the validity of our dream, nor are the circumstances of life we may be experiencing.  When Joseph was in the pit, the dream was still valid.  When he was a slave in the palace, the dream was still valid.  And, when he was in prison, the dream was still valid, though waiting for fulfillment.  Many people have given up on their dreams because they have experienced some of life's hardest difficulties since the time they received the dream.  Whether you feel you are in the pits or in a prison, the dream God has given you is still very valid!

     Finally, remember that the dream will eventually find a way.  No matter what obstacles others, or ourselves, may put in the way, if it is a God given dream, it will be fulfilled.  Joseph stayed in that prison for two full years.  Interestingly enough, he became an interpreter of other people's dreams.  His reputation for understanding and interpreting dreams brought him before the Pharaoh of Egypt who was wrestling with some dreams of his own.  Joseph was able to interpret the dream for Pharaoh and give him some very strategic counsel for what was about to happen.  There is a point here: While waiting for your dream to be fulfilled, help others understand and fulfill theirs!  Because of Joseph's wisdom and spirit, the Pharaoh elevated him to the position of Prime Minister of Egypt, second only to Pharaoh himself, thus fulfilling the dream that God had given to Joseph many years before. 

     If God has given you a dream, don't be discouraged by what others may have said to you about it.  Don't let their lack of enthusiasm or outright discouragements sway you from what you know on the inside.  You may very well have to go through some “stuff” while waiting for the dream to be fulfilled.  Remember the “stuff” does not validate the dream.  Be patient; if the dream you are holding on to is from God, it will find a way to fulfillment.  Get involved in someone else's dream, and you may just find out like Joseph that by helping somebody else with their dream, yours will get fulfilled as well!

To Contact Charlie: chasmoss1@aol.com