God given dreams have a way of bubbling up inside of us. Filling you with excitement, they provoke you to movement. You want to shout from the rooftops letting the whole world know your potential. At this stage one must proceed with caution. Dreams are most fragile in the beginning stages, and the devil wants nothing more than to crush them. We see this happening in the story of Joseph.
Now Joseph was around the young age of seventeen when he had dreams of his future. Though symbolic in nature, his dreams clearly pointed towards Joseph being a powerful leader. Can you imagine being a teenager knowing that you’d rule the world? To top it all off, he was his father’s favorite son. He was given a beautiful robe adorned with many colors. There are a lot of theories behind the significance of this robe. Some believe it was more like a king’s garment. Some believe that in giving Joseph the robe, his father was designating him as the future head of the family. I believe it to be a God wink. It was His way of confirming the dreams that He’d given Joseph. One day, Joseph would be in the presence of Pharaohs and captain wearing garments as fine as this one.
Unfortunately, Joseph shared his dreams with the wrong people. As a teenager, I wonder if he was arrogant towards his brothers. Let’s consider a few points. Joseph was the youngest of eleven sons. The Bible says he was “the son of his old age” which eludes to the fact that his brothers were significantly older. It also states that “Joseph worked for his brothers.” Often times, he would report to his father when they were mismanaging their estate. I imagine that he’d say foolish things. “I’ll tell father on you.” Or something like, “I’m picking grain now, but one day I’ll be in charge”. At any rate, his brothers resented him and spoke negative words towards him. Ultimately, their jealousy led to selling Joseph into slavery. Though this was an attempt at squashing his dreams, God used it as part of his master plan.
So, what dreams are stirring in your heart? Are you dying to share them? May I caution you with whom you share your dreams. Pray that God puts people in your life to encourage you along the way. When the time is right, God will open doors allowing you to step into your dream. Until such time, be graceful and patient.
Be encouraged! 😊
Scripture References: Genesis 37: 3-8 (NLT) “Jacob loved Joseph more than any of his other children because Joseph had been born to him in his old age. So, one day Jacob had a special gift made for Joseph—a beautiful robe. But his brothers hated Joseph because their father loved him more than the rest of them. They couldn’t say a kind word to him. One-night Joseph had a dream, and when he told his brothers about it, they hated him more than ever. ‘Listen to this dream,’ he said. ‘We were out in the field, tying up bundles of grain. Suddenly my bundle stood up, and your bundles all gathered around and bowed low before mine!’ His brothers responded, ‘So you think you will be our king, do you? Do you actually think you will reign over us?’ And they hated him all the more because of his dreams and the way he talked about them.”
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