Redeeming the Dream

February is a month for dreamers. Punxsutawney Phil is dreaming of seeing his shadow. Heroes of the gridiron are dreaming of a Super Bowl victory. Athletes from around the world are dreaming of Olympic gold in Vancouver. And young lovers are dreaming of romantic, candlelight dinners on Valentine's Day. It may be winter on the calendar, but hope springs eternal!

But what happens when your dreams don't work out quite the way you hoped they would? What do you do when they crash and burn before your very eyes?

That's what happened to Joseph, the teenager with the technicolor coat. God had given him some big, audacious dreams. And he became so enthralled with them that he couldn't wait to share them with his family and friends.

Unfortunately for Joseph, his family wasn't quite so enthralled. In fact, they were downright offended, enraged even. So his brothers set out to teach this young dreamer a lesson. Consumed by envy and jealousy, they threw him in a cistern and left him for dead. Then, seizing an opportunity to fulfill a few dreams of their own, they sold Joseph off to some traveling slave traders and pocketed the money, exchanging their own flesh and blood for a few pieces of silver. Out of sight, out of mind.

Or so they thought. Never in their wildest dreams could they have possibly imagined what they would find waiting for them some twenty years later when these very same brothers were sent to Egpyt on a mission of mercy to find food for their famine-stricken families back in Canaan. Much to their horror, it was Joseph himself, Pharaoh's recently appointed "chief of staff," who met them when they arrived at the palace with their request for aid.

As this band of brothers bowed before their royal sibling, in fulfillment of the very dream that now brought them to this moment of truth, what was going through their minds ... guilt, fear, shame, regret? And what was going through Joseph's heart and mind ... anger, hurt, hatred, revenge?

Based on his response to his brothers, it is clear that Joseph, the once proud, naive and self-absorbed teenager, had been transformed into a much more broken, mature and self-giving man of God:

"Don't be afraid," Joseph said. "Am I in the place of God? You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. So then, don't be afraid. I will provide for you and your children." And he reassured them and spoke kindly to them (Genesis 50:19-21).

Joseph's story reminds us that every dream that is received must be refined before it can be realized.

It takes time to transform small, self-serving dreams into grand, God-glorifying dreams. What dreams has God given to you? Will you give Him permission to transform them in His refining fire? He loves you way too much to allow you to settle for second best. He wants to redeem your dreams.

*For more on this topic, see "The Holy Whisper, Part 5: Discerning God's Call through Circumstances," available on the Barclay College website: www.barclaycollege.edu/Students/Chapel.asp.