Remember the Dream God Gave (Genesis 42)
Genesis 42:9 And Joseph remembered the dreams which he dreamed of them…
Years before, Joseph dreamed an impossible dream – all his brothers and his mother and father bowing down to him. Now, his brothers are there before him bowing down and asking for help.
As they do, Joseph’s mind flashes back to the cackles of his brothers as he related his dreams to them. He remembers how they scornfully called him “the Dreamer.” They aren’t laughing now. They are deeply serious and will become more and more distressed as they sense God is dealing with their injustice.
God is the giver of dreams and desires to glorify His name. As we delight in Him, He gives us the desires of our hearts (Psalm 37:4). He is the one that works in both to will and to do of His good pleasure (Phil 2:13).
Not only does God give the dream, but God fulfills the dream (see Phil 2:13 “and to do”). We may try like Moses to fulfill the dream in our own power, but it will not work. We must allow God in his time and his way to fulfill the dream through us.
So what is our job? To passively sit by and let God do it all? That is not what we see in Scripture.
- Like Joseph, we must respond positively to God’s preparatory tests and training.
- We must look to the Lord and trust Him even when it seems the dream has died.
- We must be obedient to work out what God has worked in (Phil 2:12).
- We must work at delighting in the Lord (Psalm 37:4).
- We must engage in “active waiting” on the Lord.The dream will be fulfilled in God’s time, but in the interim, we need to wait on the Lord by learning, growing, being faithful in the little things, and developing the character necessary to sustain us when the dream comes to pass.
If we are faithful to love the Lord and obey Him, one day we can remember the “impossible” dream God gave and rejoice in how He has fulfilled it all!