Gen 45:4-8 And Joseph said unto his brethren, Come near to me, I pray you. And they came near. And he said, I am Joseph your brother, whom ye sold into Egypt. (5) Now therefore be not grieved, nor angry with yourselves, that ye sold me hither: for God did send me before you to preserve life. (6) For these two years hath the famine been in the land: and yet there are five years, in the which there shall neither be earing nor harvest. (7) And God sent me before you to preserve you a posterity in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance. (8) So now it was not you that sent me hither, but God: and he hath made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt.
Growing up, every child or young person has a dream of what they will eventually be, do, or experience as they mature. It is really a neat thing to see these same youth, with their face lit up and a gleam in their eye, express what they perceive will be reality in their near futures. Unfortunately, reality dictated by the devil, a sinful atmosphere in life, and the cares of life become dream-stealers to those who once held a promise and a dream in their heart!
What separates those who accept the robbery of their dreams / promises from those who simply will not quit holding on to them, is what the scriptures acknowledge as faith! Many in the church have been victims of spiritual "robbery" in that, they have gotten used to living beneath their God-given privileges of a life of victory, joy, and spiritual happiness! They have instead settled for fear, bitterness, and weakness of committment! What we need is a baptism of Promise in our life! The scripture bears out that some held on to their faith regardless of circumstance!
When referring to faith, there are others that we look to that confirm to us about perfect faith, abundant faith, and consistent faith.
We acknowledge Abraham’s Perfect faith of simply going when he did not know where he was going!
We acknowledge Elijah & Elisha of the abundant faith exercised in the Book of the Kings!
We acknowledge Samuel for his consistent faith as he learned at an early age of the faithfulness of Jehovah God until the end of his life!
We even acknowledge Job somewhat of his enduring faith that helped him to not charge God foolishly through his trials!
But, we would be remiss to not acknowledge Joseph of his tested faith that began with a dream! This preferred son of his father, Jacob, over 11 other sons, became the chosen by Jehovah God to be a surrogate savior for the Jews in the future! All because of a dream that God gave Joseph!
We know the story, but what caused Joseph the most problems was not that he was chosen...or that God even gave him a dream, it was the fact that he believed it so much, he was willing to speak it by faith to his brethren! And that, was what caused the 'dream-stealers' to get working against the dream!
Let me be clear, the Hebrew definition of the word, "Dream"…means to "make something that is small… plump"! To make something small into reality or fact by enlarging it"! In other words, the word "dream" is synonymous for Promise! A dream can be anything ever sent from God to you that looks beyond the natural into the supernatural!
THE 1st P....THE PIT- The place of trial that makes you second guess the dream!
Even though Joseph had a dream, he was wet behind the ears...inexperienced. All he had was the 'end-result', but what he didn't have was the what, how, and why of attaining the dream! This is the time where faith kicks in and sustains us while we languish in the pit of trial!
Most likely, he may have thought he had all the answers…because well...he was chosen, right??
News-flash!!! Just because we have a dream does not mean that we won't have to visit a pit along on our way to dream fulfillment! Joseph learned to trust, because he didn’t have any choice! The dream was out of his mind at this point!
THE 2nd P.... THE PRISON– The place where you doubt God’s timing, ability, and calling and wonder if the dream is even real or not!?!
The next transition to dream fulfillment came when Joseph was sold into slavery into Potiphar's house. When Potiphar's wife lied on Joseph, he was thrown into prison! Understand, he was wrongfully put here by another through no fault of his own! He had been doing right, and STILL got punished! Can anybody relate here??
The dream may have been postponed…but what was he learning here? He learned patience. While he was focused on his life, God was still enacting the dream in his life!
The prison was a testing place for promise! A proving ground for his faith! It was a place of frustrating doubt because he knew where he was supposed to be (Potiphars house) but was bound literally by what others said about him! Notice, the Prison sometimes becomes the burial ground for promise! Faith usually dies right before the last "P"!
THE 3rd P....THE PALACE – The confirmation and the commitment!
The Palace became realized when the time in the Pit and Prison was faithfully navigated! It should be understood....blessings delayed are not always blessing denied! Joseph had to endure the PIT and the PRISON, before he experienced the PALACE!
To those of you who have a dream...be faithful through your Pit or Prison experience, and the remainder of your life will be spent living in the Palace! Also known as the place of your dream fulfillment!!!!
