When have you experienced a “dormant” dream?

God was working every step of the way even when Joseph’s dream seemed dead. We have the benefit of seeing the entire story, but Joseph was living it. All he could see was what was right in front of him and what was behind him. He chose to trust God.

Joseph said, “Listen to the dream I had. We were in the field tying bundles of wheat together. My bundle stood up, and your bundles of wheat gathered around it and bowed down to it.

His brothers said, “Do you really think you will be king over us? Do you truly think you will rule over us?” His brothers hated him even more because of his dreams and what he had said.

Then Joseph had another dream, and he told his brothers about it also. He said, “Listen, I had another dream. I saw the sun, moon, and eleven stars bowing down to me.”

Joseph also told his father about this dream, but his father scolded him, saying, “What kind of dream is this? Do you really believe that your mother, your brothers, and I will bow down to you?” Joseph’s brothers were jealous of him, but his father thought about what all these things could mean. (Genesis 37:6-11)

The seed was planted. For Joseph, the dream was a vision of the future. For his brothers, the dream was infuriating.

When have you had a dream that didn’t come true?

Consider the difference between your dreams and God’s dreams.

Joseph’s brothers decided to do something about the dreams. First, they tried to bury them:

“Here comes the dreamer!” they said. “Come on, let’s kill him and throw him into one of these cisterns. We can tell our father, ‘A wild animal has eaten him.’ Then we’ll see what becomes of his dreams!” (Genesis 37:19-20)

Brothers Reuben and Judah decided killing Joseph and burying the dreams along with him wasn’t a good idea. So the next idea was to sell the dream:

So when the Ishmaelites, who were Midianite traders, came by, Joseph’s brothers pulled him out of the cistern and sold him to them for twenty pieces[d] of silver. And the traders took him to Egypt. (Genesis 37:28)

Joseph was headed in a direction away from his home and family. It seemed his dreams were in the past, but this was no simple childhood dream that Joseph had for himself. This was God’s dream for his life. God continued to work even though the dream seemed to be thrown into pits and tossed into the hands of others many times. (Genesis 37:36; 39:4, 7-22; Genesis 41)

So Joseph said to them, “Come close to me.” When the brothers came close to him, he said to them, “I am your brother Joseph, whom you sold as a slave to go to Egypt. Now don’t be worried or angry with yourselves because you sold me here. God sent me here ahead of you to save people’s lives. No food has grown on the land for two years now, and there will be five more years without planting or harvest. So God sent me here ahead of you to make sure you have some descendants left on earth and to keep you alive in an amazing way.So it was not you who sent me here, but God. God has made me the highest officer of the king of Egypt. I am in charge of his palace, and I am the master of all the land of Egypt. So leave quickly and go to my father. Tell him, ‘Your son Joseph says: God has made me master over all Egypt. Come down to me quickly. Live in the land of Goshen where you will be near me. Your children, your grandchildren, your flocks and herds, and all that you have will also be near me. I will care for you during the next five years of hunger so that you and your family and all that you have will not starve.” (Genesis 45:4-11)

Consider Joseph’s response as his dream came full circle.

How are you handling your God-given dreams through the seasons of your life?