In Genesis chapter 42, Joseph’s brothers make their way to Egypt to buy food for their families because of the famine. Guess who they had to deal with? Joseph, their baby brother! They hated him because he had dreams! Dreams which elevated him to a superior position to them. They could not see themselves bowing down to their little brother.
Verse 6 says, “Now Joseph was governor over the land. He was the one who sold to all the people of the land. And Joseph’s brothers came and bowed themselves before him with their faces to the ground.” Notice, then, in verse 9 it says, “And Joseph remembered the dreams that he had dreamed of them.” It struck Joseph that after all this time, 20+years, most of which was spent in the pits, his dreams had finally come true.
Dreams have a way of dying on us when were in the pits, like Joseph. But God won’t let them die! He will fulfill every dream you’ve ever had. He won’t only eliminate the pain of the past (Mannaseh), he will also make you fruitful in every way (Ephraim).
You may be in the pits, right now, and have lost sight of all your dreams. You have been falsley accused, you have been forgotten by others, you have lost everything that really matters to you. God speaks to you now through Joseph. Hear him.
Max Lucado writes, “if you’ll celebrate a marriage anniversary alone this year, he speaks to you. If your child made it to heaven before making it to kindergarten, he speaks to you. If you lost a loved one in violence, if you learned more than you want to know about disease, if your dreams were buried as they lowered the casket, God speaks to you.” I hope you can hear him.
When all the friends of Jairus were mourning the death of his daughter, “Jesus overheard them, and said to Jairus, don’t be afraid, just have faith.” (Mark 5:36)