Dreams by their very nature are unrealistic. If you can
remember any of your recent dreams they probably do not reflect real life. They
often, in my experience, take a jumble of memories and recent experiences and
mix them up into an interesting hotchpotch of events. If you are fortunate they
may construct into a pleasant, even funny story and if not they may create a
frightening nightmare.
I had an interesting dream last night. It involved a new
photo album we had ordered from an online company and though it was full of our
photos, one page was different in that instead of being just one photo it was a
slideshow of photos as you might see on your computer. I was recounting the
dream to my husband and commented on the absurdity of it when he remarked that
it wasn’t completely foolish. He then outlined how it could become a reality. I
was amazed.
It made me realise though that the dreams God gives us,
though appearing unrealistic, are actually meant to become true. The great
dreamer Joseph is a case in point. He was the 11th son of Jacob, a
fairly well to do shepherd but hardly born for the high life. He dreamt that he
was out in the fields and his brothers’ sheaves of corn bowed down to his
sheaf. He then dreamt that the sun, moon and eleven stars bowed to him, meaning
his parents as well as his brothers. Unfortunately, being young and foolish he
told his brothers and parents about his dreams and they were very unimpressed,
so much so that Judah and the brothers had no difficulty selling Joseph to a
travelling caravan of Midianites who took him off into a life of slavery and
imprisonment in Egypt.
It was here though that he honed his dreaming and
administrative skills so that when he was called upon to interpret Pharaoh’s
dreams he was confidently able to bring the word of the Lord to Pharaoh and
save not just the nation but also his family. His original dreams were
fulfilled but over 20 years later. God gave Joseph his dreams, not so he could
brag about them to his brothers but to encourage him to persevere through the hard
preparation years into his destiny.
In all the difficult circumstances of betrayal, lies, misjudgements,
false imprisonment and rejection Joseph never lost sight of God. He was
Joseph’s focus though I am sure there were times when Joseph dismissed his
dreams as the vain imaginings of a young man. But God was working out his plans
even in the midst of all the disappointments so that when the time came Joseph
was ready, prepared by the events of his life.
We are often encouraged not to let go of our God given dreams,
to stir them into life and this is important but of greater importance is to
focus on the Lord in the good times, the bad times and the downright awful
times. There may be occasions when our dreams seem like the vain imaginings of
another era but with our eyes firmly fixed on Jesus, we can ask him to prepare
us for the fulfilment of our dreams.
Our God dreams are meant to be fulfilled. They are not meant
to be the unrealistic ramblings of our sleeping minds. God’s dreams come true.
They are there to inspire us to persevere in all the seasons of our lives but fixing our
eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith (Hebrews 12: 2) we will see our dreams become reality.
