A dream come true

Today: Genesis 46-47

Don't you love it when (good) dreams come true?

Joseph's life story is filled with many dreams...they almost seem like milestone markers defining key moments in his life. But in today's passage, it's Jacob's dream that comes true. As he's on his way to Egypt to reunite with Joseph, Jacob has a dream from God:

God spoke to Israel in a vision that night: "Jacob! Jacob!"
"Yes?" he said. "I'm listening."
God said, "I am the God of your father.

Don't be afraid of going down to Egypt.

I'm going to make you a great nation there.

I'll go with you down to Egypt;

I'll also bring you back here.

And when you die, Joseph will be with you;

with his own hand he'll close your eyes."

For much of his life, Jacob had mourned the loss of his son Joseph. Surprisingly, Jacob had the opportunity to reunite with him (thousands of years before Internet search tools or The Locator were even available!). To top it all off, the lives of Jacob and his entire family--the family God promised his father Isaac and grandfather Abraham--were saved from famine. And the best part of all? God was with him, guiding his steps and promising continued blessing.

The stories of Joseph and Jacob have been such incredible pictures of God's faithfulness. God's still faithful today. I'm going to do something a little different in this post and pray for anyone reading this...

I hope and pray for you.

I pray for the God-given dreams of your heart.

I pray that you'll see glimmers of God's direction and faithfulness in your life,

even when things seem tough.

I pray that you'll have the wisdom, patience and character

that helped Joseph and Jacob weather their stormy circumstances with grace.

I pray that you'll be able to forgive those who hurt you.

I pray that you will not be afraid--

that you'll walk in the kind of confidence that only comes

from trusting God.

I pray that you'll know and hear His voice and

let His vision be your vision.

And I pray that you'll see those God-given dreams come true.

Amen.

Tomorrow: Genesis 48-50

The dream haters

Today: Genesis 35-37

Dreams are fascinating. Most of the time, I don't remember the dreams I have at night. I definitely have strong daydreams...or maybe it's the work of a creative imagination? :)

I don't ever remember being hated for my dreams, though. But in today's passage, we read about a guy named Joseph whose own family hated him...in part, because of his dreams. Take a look:

Israel loved Joseph more than any of his other sons

because he was the child of his old age.

And he made him an elaborately embroidered coat.

When his brothers realized

that their father loved him more than them,

they grew to hate him—they wouldn't even speak to him.
Joseph had a dream.

When he told it to his brothers,

they hated him even more.

He said, "Listen to this dream I had.

We were all out in the field gathering bundles of wheat.

All of a sudden my bundle stood straight up

and your bundles circled around it and bowed down to mine."
His brothers said, "So! You're going to rule us?

You're going to boss us around?"

And they hated him more than ever because of his dreams

and the way he talked.

To be fair to the context of the passage, Joseph's brothers likely hated him for other reasons, too--he was Jacob's (their father's) favorite and he received (at least one) special gift because of it. But in addition to those factors, the passage says that they hated him "because of his dreams."

Perhaps Joseph's brothers disliked the fact that he told them about his dreams (a lesson for dreamers perhaps?). I don't know about you, but I wouldn't exactly be thrilled if someone described a dream that put me in a very bad light. It wouldn't make me feel great, but I don't know if I would hate the dreamer--hate is a very strong word.

It's an even stronger word when paired with the actions of Joseph's brothers. The dream haters thought about killing the dreamer, but chose instead to sell him--their own brother!--as a slave.

Wow. Those must have been some dreams...

Tomorrow: Genesis 38-40