Joseph had two dreams when he was about seventeen years of age. Genesis 37:5-10. These dreams were divine prophetic dreams foreshadowing his future greatness and the position he would attain in his family and life. However, God didn’t reveal the time and place of manifestation/destination to him. Joseph interpreted the dreams rightly, accepted, and believed them without questioning the reality and possibilities of them becoming true because he knew they were from God who is the Truth and One that does not tell lies, Numbers 23:19. He took a step of faith towards the fulfillment of the dreams by revealing and confessing them to his father and brothers. His father was very surprised and questioned the dreams and his brothers ridiculed, envied and hated him the more because of the dream, Genesis 37:10-11. His brothers’ evil plot to kill him which was unknown to him but known to God who used Reuben, Judah and a company of Ish’me-eli-tes from Gilead to stop them from carrying out was in connection with the dreams, Genesis 37:18-22, 25-28.

Many terrible things he faced such as separation from his loved ones, being sold into slavery, the baseless and false accusation by his mistress, and years of imprisonment that seemed to be in opposition to the fulfillment of the dreams could not make him give up on life/his dreams.

While in slavery he did not get morbid, discouraged, and mourn his hard fate. He accepted wherever he was and the position he found himself and put his whole heart and strength in his assigned duties and was favored above all others. He interpreted dreams for co-prisoners while in castration in prison even though his dreams of many years were yet to be fulfilled. Had Joseph not interpreted his co-prisoners’ dreams, he wouldn’t have been brought to the notice of the king. In the long run, his gift of dream interpretations made way for him to the place of his destiny and the fulfillment of his dreams.

WE ALL HAVE DREAMS.

God who created man in His image and likeness has plans and purposes (destiny) for each man to fulfill in life. His plans and purposes for individuals are sometimes revealed in prophetic dreams/visions, by direct revelation, by intuition, the Scripture and the indwelling Holy Spirit, Acts 2:17; John 15:7; James 1:20; Romans 8:1-17; Galatians 5:16 – 26. Aspirations and ambitions still come under dreams. God’s plan and purpose for each of us are good, Jeremiah 29:11. When the dreams about our life’s purpose are divinely given, they are true and sure to come to pass. The time of fulfillment and the modalities of fulfilling them depends on God because they are usually beyond human understanding and comprehension. One thing we should know is that God desires that we fulfill our dreams.

Unfortunately, many wonderful divinely given dreams have been left unfulfilled as a result of activities of haters and dream killers, oppositions, impatience, hardship, adversaries, and many more encountered by the dreamers.

Ironically, Joseph encountered all of the things listed above and probably more and he came out triumphantly fulfilling his dreams. What did he do and how did he overcome them all? Let’s check them out here:

BELIEVE IN YOURSELF AND YOUR DREAM

To dare to be like Joseph in fulfillng on to one’s dream amidst all odds is to believe and accept the dreams one has about one’s future and life from God and also to believe in oneself as he did. The reason why some dreams die on arrival is that those given the dreams don’t believe or accept the dreams either because (i) they consider it unattainable or not achievable (ii) or that they believed they are unworthy vessels to be used by God for such.

Such people forget that (a) God picks whosoever He pleases for His purpose and makes them fit for His purpose as He did with Moses, King David, and Apostle Paul, Philippians 2:13. God often uses foolish and weak things to confound the wise and mighty, 1 Corinthians 1:27-28. They also fail to remember that (b) God gave them the dreams because He sees and believes in them that they have all it takes to fulfill the dreams. They also forget that (c) All things are possible with God and to them that believe, Mark 9: 23; 14:36.

If Joseph had considered his age, his position in his family, his lack of experience and other circumstances of his life, he wouldn’t have believed in his dreams. Joseph believed in God and himself. He believed and accepted the dreams because he could see the presence of God in his life and could see himself in the light of the great God, his Creator he believed in.

See yourself as God sees you. God knows you are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, smarter than you think because you were created in His image and likeness and have his type of life. Rely on God and rest upon him concerning any dream He has given unto you and He will help you fulfill them. Faithful is he that called you, who also will do it, 1 Thessalonians 5:24. Have faith in your dreams as without faith in one’s dream nothing can be achieved. Have faith in yourself. Remember the statement “I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me,” Philippians 4:13. Be self-confident as Joseph was.

GOD-GIVEN DREAMS ARE SPIRITUAL MATTERS

To dare to be like Joseph in fulfilling one’s dreams despite all odds is to know that dreams from God are spiritual matters that need to be handled spiritually and understood by faith and not by sight, nor by flesh or by natural thinking. Looking at Joseph’s dreams and their fulfillment, one knows that it was beyond the physical. It was only God Himself that made the dream he gave to Joseph became a reality considering who Joseph was and all the terrible things that happened in the course of accomplishing the dreams. Joseph must have understood that since they were divinely revealed dreams, they were fixed, and would surely come to pass and that no power that can thwart them. Therefore, he maintained his calm in the face of adversaries. He must also have known that to fulfill them he must continue living a life pleasing unto God, which is a life of faith, love, purity, and obedience.

The troubles Joseph passed through in the course of fulfilling his dreams were enough to make him lose faith in God who gave him the dream. yet he did not. He remained loyal and trusted God in everything. He believed that God was in all he passed through and would carry him through, the giver of the dreams and dream interpretations. He held on to God in faith and committed everything into His able hand while living in total obedience, holiness dependence, submission, and abiding in His love. He could see the hand of God in all that befalls him.

If not for his faith in God, most of the sad experiences and negative situations he passed through would have discouraged him and made him give up. However, since he was focused on God, he remained strong and unmovable, “Surely he shall not be moved forever: the righteous be in everlasting remembrance. He shall not be afraid of tidings: his heart is fixed, trusting in God,” Psalm 112: 6.

The reason why many gave up on their God-given dreams midway is that they started well in the spirit and with faith in God, however, they gave room to the flesh to take over as they stopped being spiritually-minded and relying on God. They started claiming the dream to be “my dream” and started relying on their strength, talents, and natural reasoning. They removed their focus from God unto natural situations. Therefore, when the storms of life came upon them they get confused, discouraged, and soon give up. They forget that spiritual matters can only be handled spiritually and that depending on natural abilities will fail one. No tangible thing can be achieved without faith in God.

Fulfilling any God-given dream demands that everything should be handed over to God as one maintains focus on Him. We must keep on abiding in Him and obeying Him. For this reason, we are advised to look unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, Hebrews 12:2.

God knows what to do concerning every individual to make him/her fulfill any divine given dreams and assignments. All one needs to do is to keep on trusting and obeying Him.

To be continued...

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