Today's reading is found in Genesis 37. It tells the story of Joseph, Israel's youngest son. This boy was 17 years old when he started having some wild dreams. Since he was his father's favorite, his older brothers hated him to death. To make matters worse, Joseph's father had given him a colorful and ornamented robe that distinguished him from the rest.
Joseph's dreams didn't help make matters any better. He dreamed symbolic dreams in which his brothers, mother and father would bow before him. While his brothers jealoulsy refused to believe him, the text says that Israel "kept wondering about the dream." No doubt his father expected his son to grow up to be a powerful man.
One day, while Joseph's brothers were out tending the sheep, Israel called him and asked him to go and see how things were going. Joseph gladly went looking for his brothers. When his brothers saw him coming in the distance, they planned to kill him. But the oldest of the brothers did not want any part in this. Rather than speak up for Joseph, he simple suggested a bit of torture hoping he could return him to his father safely. So they threw him into a dry well. Unfortunately, Reuben wasn't too concerned about Joseph and left him alone with the rest of his brothers. In the meantime, the brothers saw a group of traveling Ishmaelites on their way to Egypt. Judah decided to sell Joseph rather than kill him and the entire group agreed. They approached the Ishmaelites and were given 20 pieces of silver in trade for Joseph.
When Reuben returned for Joseph, he noticed that he was no longer in the dry well. Everyone decided to tear up Joseph's robe, dip it in the blood of a goat they had killed, and present the robe to their father. When Israel saw the robe, he knew it belonged to his son and he cried in deep despair.
Today, I've learned that God has dreams of what He knows you and I can become. The Bible says, "Even before I was born, you had written in your book everything I would do" (Psalm 139:16 - CEV). Unfortunately, sometimes our dreams are hindered by those we love most. But even in that, God does not forsake his dreams about us! Our family may think that we can never become good Christian leaders. Our spouse may believe that because of our past, God can't use us. Our children may believe that it's too late for us to continue our education. But God believes in our dreams! And He believes in them because He wrote them. No matter what circumstances you may encounter today, rest in God's faithfulness. No matter how dismal your situation may appear, His plans are taking place right before your own eyes. And when anyone asks, "What happened to your dreams?" Simply tell them, "God is going to make them happen!"
1 comment:
“Rest in God’s faithfulness,” sounds so easy but sometimes it hard to believe that someone “GOD”
would have that much faith in me. I do want to be trusted but that much faith WOW! I think it’s easier to believe that someone would dislike me. My dreams are BIG and when I think about them they seem crazy. I’m thinking that God is more special all the time!
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