When our son, Paul Edward, was preaching this past Sunday, he read a portion of scripture from Genesis (37:19)…”They said to one another, Here comes the dreamer.” Rachael was Israel’s (Jacob) favorite wife. She gave birth to Joseph when Israel (Jacob) was very old. Joseph’s brothers hated him because he was ‘daddy’s’ favorite son. They were jealous of him.
Joseph had two dreams that angered his brothers and disturbed his father. He dreamed that they would all bow down to him. Now, this is a seventeen-year-old telling his father and older brothers that he would rule over them. This didn’t set well with them, and I’m sure we would react the same as the brothers did.
This statement ‘Here comes the dreamer’ got me to thinking about how we react to dreamers,…those who have dreams that we think are impossible or improbable. Do we react like Joseph’s brothers…jealous and angry, or do we encourage a dreamer? Do we tell the dreamers that they will never achieve their dream? Or do we tell them to keep dreaming and God will open doors they never thought possible?
My children had all kinds of dreams when they were young. I knew they would not achieve some of their dreams, as they were impossible. However, time takes care of that, so I didn’t have to discourage them. Plus, God knows what He has planned for them, so we can trust Him to guide them and set up detours when they are headed the wrong direction. At times God may allow them to go in the direction they ‘think’ they need to go to find out it’s not what they should be doing.
Paul used to preach a message entitled, Full Stomachs, Empty Souls. He used the children of Israel wondering in the desert as an illustration. They continually complained to God that they were sick of manna. They wanted meat! On and on and on they complained. So, God said, “You want meat? I’ll give you meat. I won’t give it just one day, but I will give it to you till it’s running out your nostrils and is loathsome to you.” (Numbers 11). So, God may give us what we think we can’t live without to show us we really don’t need it. He may do this to a dreamer to get him/her going in the right direction.
Paul’s new book coming out in the fall is Dream Doer. We need to do more than dream. We must work toward that dream. God will open, or close, doors as we walk in His ways. But we must walk!
You want to be a teacher? You must go to college and get a degree. You want to be a professional golfer? Head to the range and hit thousands of balls. You want to be a writer? Start writing! A long-distance runner? Take off running….every day! In other words, don’t just sit around and dream…go after your dream.
Joseph’s dream came to fruition because God had fulfilled the purpose of Joseph’s dream. God allowed everything that happened to Joseph: being thrown in a pit by his brothers, sold into slavery, accused falsely, thrown into prison, interpreting two prisoner’s dreams which lead to interpreting Pharaoh’s dream. God’s purpose was fulfilled! Only Pharaoh was more powerful than Joseph and his brothers and father did indeed bow down to him. (Genesis 41)
Dream Big and don’t throw cold water on someone else’s dream. We don’t know what God has in His plans!
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