Birthing Your Dreams
And they said one to another, Behold, this dreamer cometh. Come now therefore, and let us slay him, and cast him into some pit, and we will say, Some evil beast hath devoured him: and we shall see what will become of his dreams.
—Genesis 37:19–20
There never was a question that Joseph had a dream. The question was what would become of it. There is also a dream within you. A dream from God means that God-inspired hope planted on the inside of you as a seed in your heart, made real in your imagination by the Spirit of God. And as with Joseph, when God plants a dream on the inside of you, the promise is often bigger than the person.
One of the greatest gifts you have in your life is the ability to see beyond your present state—to dream. It is all about God's great purposes and plans He has designed for you. No one can define your dream but you. God gives your dream to you alone.
So what will become of your dream? Will you decline it? Will you develop it? Joseph's dream didn't develop overnight. He didn't know that ultimately he would save his people and nation, but he figured it out. Will you birth it? Will you go through the process? Don't bypass the process just for progress because you won't be developed.
Nelson Mandala said you're playing small. The last thing the world needs is for someone to play small. Pursue the dream God has put in your life. There's no difference between your "true" self and God's plan for you. Your true self is made up of your deepest desires and gifts and abilities and dreams and passions. Your true self is what God created in you. It is who God made you to be. Instead of accepting the limits that have been placed on you, including the limits you have placed on yourself, pursue your passion!
Just as Joseph's brother intended to slay Joseph and end his dream, the enemy wants to destroy your dream because vision is the prophetic voice of God that drives you forward. Dream killers try to immobilize your life and put you in a place of bondage. Dreams come to pass when we step out and challenge life and take on the possibilities that lie before us. So keep on dreaming. You can do it. You can birth it. Whatever you do, don't stop!
Be confident that God will complete what He has started in you (Philippians 1:6). You don't need to know everything. You may never know much of anything. But make sure you know that the same God who gave you your dream, who transformed you and made you a new creation, this same God will bring His work to completion.
-Paula White
Related Texts: Genesis 37:18–20; Jeremiah 33:3; John 10:10; Philippians 4:13; 1 Timothy 4:14–15; Hebrews 11:1