Behold the Dreamer

Since I was a child, one of my all-time favorite Bible stories was the story of Joseph and his brothers. Joseph was a dreamer. God gave him big dreams, great aspirations, and huge vision. Most often, however, those dreams were not enjoined by others. In fact, those dreams landed Joseph in an Egyptian prison, wondering if he would ever see his dreams fulfilled.

I have had many dream myself: dreams of ministry effectiveness, professional growth and development, personal fulfillment and satisfaction, and Divine visitation. I am comforted by the fact that many of the great men and women of God also shared the proclivity toward dreaming big.

Abraham dreamed of a seed, Noah a flood, Joseph a place of influence, Esther a people restored, Nehemiah a ruined city exalted, David a temple, and Moses a land that flowed with milk and honey. These were dreams placed deep within them by a God who does all things great and all things well. However, merely having these dreams is not the end of the lesson. In almost all cases, the dreams had to be embraced, rehearsed, and then ultimately yielded before they were realized. Joseph had to give up on his dream of great influence when he realized that death in an Egyptian prison was his fate. Esther had to trust God with her dream knowing that unless God acted on her behalf, her dream could die with her death. Abraham had to place his dream on the altar and raise the knife willing to see Isaac die altogether. In these cases, though yielded to God, the dreams were still ultimately fulfilled.

But, the real test of faith is for those who yielded their dreams and still never saw them come to pass. David saw no temple and Moses no promised land. Some of our dreams may not be fulfilled. The writer of Hebrews says that these “having gained approval through their faith, died not receiving what was promised, because God had provided something better….” (Hebrews 11:39, 40). It is here that our faith must grow. Our dreams must be embraced and rehearsed. But there will come a time when these same dreams must be yielded to the Master with absolute faith and trust in Him. If the dream is resurrected and fulfilled, we will most certainly rejoice. But if it is never realized, we must be certain that the God who is able to do “exceedingly and abundantly, above all we think and ask” will provide something even better for us!

QUESTION: How do we embrace our dreams and at the same time hold them loosely enough that they can be yielded when God asks for them?