Genesis 42:- Then Joseph remembered the dreams which he had dreamed about them…” NKJV
On Sunday, our pastor was reading from the 42nd chapter of Genesis when this verse jumped out at me:
Then Joseph remembered the dreams which he had dreamed about them, and said to them, “You are spies! You have come to see the nakedness of the land!”
Genesis 42:8 NKJV
Then I heard the Spirit of God say, “Remember the dream”! I knew I would be blogging on this topic this week!
In this particular situation in Joseph’s life, his brothers are bowing before him and he remembers that in his youth, he had a dream of them bowing before him. The dream was so distasteful to his brothers that they plotted to kill him, making this interesting comment:
Come therefore, let us now kill him and cast him into some pit; and we shall say, ‘Some wild beast has devoured him.’ We shall see what will become of his dreams!”
Genesis 37:20 NKJV
Yet, here they were bowing before their brother Joseph, and surely his dreams were coming to pass! After all of their interference and all of their attempts to stop the dreams that God had given Joseph, they actually assisted in the process of making it happen.
When I think of the phrase “remember the dream” in relation to Joseph’s situation, I think of how Joseph handled this situation. As he remembered the dream, he could have allowed bitterness and unforgiveness to rule in his heart and he could’ve destroyed his brothers. He could have kept his identity from them and never acknowledged them. Basically, he could have reacted in his flesh.
But if Joseph was immature when he had the dreams, his response to his brothers demonstrates that he had matured when he remembered the dreams. I think this is so important to point out. God gives us assignments in life, whether through dreams, a prophetic word, or however He deems to speak to us. At the time of getting the assignment, we may be too immature to handle it. But if we trust Him and His timing, we will handle it with grace and maturity at time of fruition.
Think about Moses. God gave him an assignment to deliver His people from Egyptian bondage. We don’t know if God had spoken to Moses’ spirit before the burning bush, but we have evidence that he wanted to put an end to what was happening to the Israelites:
Now it came to pass in those days, when Moses was grown, that he went out to his brethren and looked at their burdens. And he saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his brethren. So he looked this way and that way, and when he saw no one, he killed the Egyptian and hid him in the sand.
Exodus 2:11-12 NKJV
Moses had the right concept, the right dream, but lacked the maturity and God’s timing! He got ahead of the dream. But at the burning bush, he remembered the dream to see his brethren free and was in the position to listen to God!
The other aspect of “remembering the dream” that I am sure Joseph had to reflect upon was all the stuff he endured before the dream came to pass. I’m sure it didn’t feel good to have his brothers hate him, but they hated him because of the dreams!
And his brothers said to him, “Shall you indeed reign over us? Or shall you indeed have dominion over us?” So they hated him even more for his dreams and for his words.
Genesis 37:8 NKJV
It wasn’t Joseph’s fault that God gave him those dreams! So maybe they hated God because of the dreams He gave Joseph! It wasn’t Joseph’s fault that God and his father favored him above his brothers! And while he might have been immature in sharing his dreams, he couldn’t help that God had chosen him! Just like it’s not your fault, or my fault when God places a dream, a burden, or an assignment on us that others think they should have gotten. Who wants to fight against God?
The sad truth about life is sometimes, the people we should be able to count on to support our dreams are the very ones trying to sabotage them! We had dinner with my husband’s cousin when we went to San Diego a few weeks ago. He told us how he wanted to go to college when he was younger but a relative told him he wasn’t going to go to college. However, he actually did go to college, something that was uncommon in his youth! She may not have even realized that she was trying to sabotage his dream and his future; she was just speaking from what was familiar to her. But that’s the thing about dreams; they are bigger than our present and our past and can cause others to feel uncomfortable with their lives! You have to move past the naysayers and remember the dream!
Another thing Joseph had to deal with was the delay or, more accurately, what looked like the death of his dreams. In the reality of his life as a slave, there appeared to be no way possible that his dreams could ever come to pass. Not only was he a slave, but he was a slave to foreigners, far away from his family. Joseph probably didn’t even want to think about those dreams in his present circumstances because they only would have mocked him and caused him to become shipwrecked in his faith!
I think Joseph’s situation made him forget his dreams. I think survival and honoring God were on his mind, not ruling over his family. I believe every day, he chose to be the best person he could be for God, irrespective of what he had once dreamed. And as he continued to live and honor God, he matured in the things of God. Sounds like advice for those of us still waiting on the dream!
Then one day, without realizing it had happened, Joseph stood above his brothers and they bowed to him. Then he remembered the dreams. God had done it! God had proven that the dreams were from Him, and nothing that had happened to Joseph was able to stop the dreams from coming to pass. As a matter of fact, God used it all: hatred, jealousy, slavery, lies, and being forgotten! All those things that the enemy threw at Joseph to stop the dreams were catalysts to the dream!
As I sat in the service on Sunday, I had an epiphany, a sudden realization about my personal dreams. I have placed some things out of my mind because I am getting older, and they seem even further out of reach than they did when I was younger. But I heard God say, “Remember the dream!”
Maybe as you are reading this blog, there are some things that you have forgotten that God has promised you. Maybe the situations and circumstances of your life are so far away from those promises and you don’t see how they can ever come to pass. Maybe like Joseph, like me, you have put them out of your mind and have chosen to just live for God to the best of your ability! Well, this moment could be your epiphany! Maybe it’s time for you to remember your dreams! Wonderful Jesus!
Wonderful Jesus! 