Once there was a confident young man who had dreams that were filled with the promise of a bright future. He was so moved by these dreams that he had to share them with others. The boy went to those closest to him, his family, and shared the exciting things that were in his heart. Unfortunately, his family members were not excited. Actually, there were threatened by what they heard. They had heard enough of these boastful ideas and concocted a plan to end the boy’s dreams forever.
In case you have yet to catch on this story is from the Bible and the young man is Joseph. He had two fascinating dreams in which the basic message was interpreted to be: your family will bow down before you. His father Jacob was probably Joe’s biggest fan but even he found the dreams hard to swallow.
But when he told it to his father and to his brothers, his father rebuked him and said to him, “What is this dream that you have dreamed? Shall I and your mother and your brothers indeed come to bow ourselves to the ground before you?”
Genesis 37: 10
Suffice to say the family wasn’t having it. Imagine how this news would go over in your family. “Moooooom, Bobby says he’s gonna make us his slaves!” Joseph’s family would not be the only one that had trouble hearing about this type of dream. Of course, his brothers took it to an extreme and sold him into slavery and told Jacob a wild animal ate him. Hope that is not how you resolve your family disputes.
We have the benefit of seeing how this story played out for Joseph and his brothers. After Joseph had orchestrated a great plan to save famine-stricken nations and his family, he famously said, “You meant evil against me, but God meant it for God.” By this we know God can take any situation and work out His purposes.
It is very possible, though, that if Joseph had been slightly more judicious in who he told his dreams to, the road to his destiny could have fewer bumps or stays in jail. Our goal is to miss those “sold into slavery” moments and be changed into the image of Christ without all that mess.
Jesus also alluded to this thought of protecting what God has given you in Matthew 7:6:
“Do not give dogs what is holy, and do not throw your pearls before pigs, lest they trample them underfoot and turn to attack you.
God gives us all “pearls.” Sharing those with just anybody can lead to complication, distraction or even derailment of where God is ultimately taking us. Some unnecessary troubles can be avoided.
Protect Your Dream
Not everyone needs to hear about how you are going to save the world. Yes, God did put that desire in your heart, but He did not tell you to blab it all over Facebook. As we learned from Joseph, those closest to us may have the hardest time seeing what God is developing inside of us. That does not mean they will never see it. It does mean that we must be careful who we share our God dreams with.
Those that you share your dreams with must be people that are selfless towards you and want to see God’s best for you. Not only that but also they can see the big purpose that God has in store for you. If your family qualifies, great! If not, no worries. Joseph’s brother’s eventually came around to the idea of Joe being in charge.
Humble Pie Is On the Menu
In Joseph’s case he had been favored by his father which had already led to animosity in the hearts of his brothers. This treatment did not help in the humility department. Lack of humility led to “Wow, listen to the awesome dream I just had about how awesome I am.” Humility Induction Program will now commence. See ya. Wouldn’t want to be ya, Joe!
Your dream is great. You are great, but most importantly God is great. He is the one that created you and your dream. With our focus on Him and all glory to Him, we can avoid some of the pitfalls (Get it?! Joseph was in a pit!) that Joseph ran into. Your dream is really about what God has created you to do to help others. When we find the right people to share with, it must be done with a heart of service and humility. Sharing the wrong way with the right people can still lead to unnecessary trouble.