“And Joseph dreamed a dream, and he told it his brethren: and they hated him yet the more.” Genesis 37:5
The story of Joseph’s life is one of the most powerful examples of perseverance through difficult circumstances in the entire Bible. Joseph’s father favored him above his brothers and they hated him because of it. Then Joseph had a dream. In his dream, he and his brothers were binding sheaves of wheat in the field. Joseph’s sheaf stood upright, and his brothers’ sheaves came and bowed down to it. When Joseph told his brothers the dream, they hated him even more.
Joseph’s brothers did not know that God was preparing him to deliver them and their entire region of the world from starvation during a devastating seven-year famine. If they could have seen what was going to happen in the future, they would have been very happy about Joseph’s dream, but none of them knew exactly what the dream meant, not even Joseph.
None of us are likely to have anything quite as dramatic occur in our lives as what happened to Joseph, but we do have aspirations, hopes, and dreams. Many times God uses those dreams to guide us into His plan for our lives. You may not save an entire nation from starvation, but God has something important for you to do, and He will guide and protect you as you carry it out. He is working to accomplish great things through your aspirations, even when they seem impossible.
Morning: Genesis 36-38
Evening: Matthew 10:21-42