Not everyone likes a dreamer. At least that’s what I’ve come to discover. Dreamers make some folks real uncomfortable because they think outside the nice tidy boxes of life. Well… I’ve always been a dreamer. Sometimes, I must confess, those dreams have been the far-out plans of the flesh, but many, many times they’ve been the secrets that God has whispered to my soul and then when I spoke them aloud the world didn’t understand. Sometimes I don’t think the secrets of the soul are meant to be spoken… I think God says, let’s keep that between Me and you. And then other times I think God says “tell’em, let them think you’re crazy until I prove otherwise.” That’s kind of where I’ve been for a few years now.
So you say… how do you know that God said it? Because in the well of soul lies this vision that when I drink of it, it quenches my thirst, and I know that only God can do that. So this morning I read the story of the dreamer Joseph and my soul drank of that water and whether or not you think I’m crazy I want to try to encourage you with God’s word.
Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was the son of his old age: and he made him a coat of many colours. And when his brethren saw that their father loved him more than all his brethren, they hated him, and could not speak peaceably unto him. And Joseph dreamed a dream, and he told it his brethren: and they hated him yet the more.
Genesis 37:3-5
That coat of many of colors heaped a whole lot of trouble on Joseph. I don’t think that was Israel’s intent. It was a gift. And when God gives us a gift, it’s for our good; but often times the world doesn’t see it as such, especially if you’re an outgoing personality who likes wearing bright colored britches and things that bling. Well… that’s me. And while I’ll not label myself the caliber of person that Joseph was, for I am far beneath his caliber of character, I will put myself in the category of dreamer and visionary. And if Joseph the dreamer can spend 13 years undiscouraged in the house of Potiphar, sold into slavery but elevated to position, I’m pretty sure I can survive this time of being a dreamer in waiting.
Don’t give up on the dream. That was the words of God that I read this morning as I sat here ready to give up, because waiting is never easy. Don’t you give up either! Read the story of Joseph, his wins, losses, adversity and victories, and cap it off with the story of his forgiveness. Don’t begrudge those who don’t believe in your dream, just remind yourself that God will use it for His glory and you’ll be a part of the plan!
