Title: Dream Fulfiller / Genesis 37:5-11
Contents
♡♥♡ A person who makes dreams / Genesis 37:5-11
*** Introduction
Last week, I pondered about the ‘Canaanite woman’ who achieved her dream through persistent challenges despite the coldness. Today, I would like to hear the word of God on the topic of ‘a person who makes dreams come true’. When it comes to ‘dreams’, the person who cannot be excluded from the Bible is ‘Joseph’. God teaches Joseph's process of growing up and the history of providence in fulfilling God's will through the circumstances of hardship. Focusing on the text, we will examine how God provides for human life and history, and also examine who is the subject of dreams given to humans.
1. What makes a dream come true?
Everyone will have some kind of dream and hope. Even Arin children have their own wishes and dreams they want to achieve. So how do these dreams come about? Of course, in many ways, it will be different from the world of believers and unbelievers. But all fundamental dreams have one manager.
Philippians 2:13 says that the origin of man's dreams is God. “It is God who works in you, to will and to do for the sake of his good pleasure.” The purpose of giving people dreams is to fulfill the will of God. Let's look at one more verse we know well. This is Jeremiah 29:11. “I know the thoughts I have toward you, saith the Lord, and not evil, but peace, to give you hope for your future.” In this way, it is God who gives dreams and hopes to God's people.
So what about the world of unbelievers? Let's look at 1 Kings 22:20-22. “Then the LORD said, 'Who will persuade Ahab to go up to Ramoth Gilead and put him to death?' One said, 'I will do this,' and the other, 'I will do that.' I will deceive him.' The LORD said to him, 'What shall I do?' He said, 'I will go out and become a lying spirit in the mouths of all their prophets.' Go out and do it.’”
The dream of the wicked becomes a 'counsel', and even this comes from God. Proverbs 16:4. “The Lord hath made all things for a covering, even the wicked for an evil day.” Proverbs 29:26 says, “Many seek the sovereign for favor, but the decree of a man is from the Lord. Because of it,” he said. God like this. All dreams and hopes of man, regardless of unbelief, come from God.
2. How will God provide for us to make our dreams come true?
It is God who gives people dreams and hopes, but it is also God who makes those dreams come true. God reveals that fact in detail through the life of Joseph.
1) It makes you think deeply about your dreams.
God showed Joseph's future in a dream. Showing the same dream twice in a row is an expression of sure that you will achieve it. One time, he saw me through a sheaf of grain. Joseph's altar stood up, and the other brothers' altars surrounded them and bowed down. Another dream was that the sun, moon, and eleven stars bowed down to Joseph. His brothers called Joseph “the dreamer.”
This means that you need to think deeply about your dreams and wishes in order to make them come true. In other words, you must have an earnest passion to make your dreams a reality. Because of that dream, Joseph encounters an environment completely different from the dream. Hated by his brothers, he is sold to a slave trader, and eventually becomes a slave in the house of Potiphar, the Egyptian demonstrator. However, the situation worsens and he is framed by General Potiphar's wife and imprisoned as a prisoner. However, none of the circumstances made him give up on Joseph's desire to pursue his dream. Joseph was completely trusting in the God who made his dreams come true.
It is said that on the wall in the middle of the famous steel king Carnegie's office was a large, worn-out painting hung throughout his life. It was not a painting by a famous painter, nor was it a painting of antique value. The content of the picture shows a large ferry and rowing oars being pushed back at low tide and thrown haphazardly on the sandy beach. It was a picture that looked very desperate and even desperate. However, it is said that the words “The time of the high tide is definitely coming” was written underneath the painting. When someone asked Carnegie, 'Why do you love this painting so much?' he replied:
When he was a young man, he went from house to house to sell things as a salesman. He said he saw this painting at an old man's house. This painting was very impressive to him, and in particular, the phrase “the time of high tide must come” has not been forgotten in his mind for a long time. So, at the age of 28, I hurriedly went to the old man and plucked up the courage to ask. He asked if he could give this painting to him when his grandfather passed away. The old man granted his request.
It is said that Carnegie treasured this painting for the rest of his life and made the motto "The tide must come" as his life motto.
That's right. A person with a deep dream thinks a lot and has a passion to make that dream come true.
2) Let them express and express their dreams concretely.
There is an old saying, 'You have to boast about your illness to be healed.' This is because if you describe your illness, you can get advice on how to fix it from someone who has suffered from the same disease or someone who knows the disease.
Expressing and expressing about dreams comes from the conviction that wishes come true. They are reluctant to make their dreams come true if their hopes are futile, unsure, or lack deep passion. Those who receive favor from God are those who have unshakable faith. It is from this conviction that you express and express your dreams.
Joseph did not hide his dreams. Even if it leads to worse circumstances and situations. In verses 5 and 6, “Joseph had a dream and told it to his brothers… Hear the dream I had, please.” And in verse 9, “Joseph dreamed a dream again and told his brothers… ” he announced his dream. Because we know the end of Joseph, we know that all circumstances and circumstances came from God. Joseph's life goes on to say, “The Lord is with him.” In other words, it shows that all circumstances given to Joseph are the providence of God.
3) He makes you work hard to make your dreams come true.
There is a law of life that is unified throughout the Old and New Testament. One of them is that “you will reap according to what you do.” No matter how trustworthy and pleasing to God, if you wait for the persimmons to fall under the persimmon tree or waste your time, talents, and wealth while idling around believing in your dreams, you can't expect anything.
As a slave, Joseph served so diligently that Potiphar, the leader of the guard, stood out. He did not lament over his situation, nor did he give up thinking that it was fate. Although he was imprisoned unfairly, he worked hard in the space given to him with sincerity and loyalty. Opportunities are given to those who work hard. General Potiphar entrusted Joseph with all household expenses, and the chief of the prison gave him full control of the prisoners. In Genesis 39:4, it is said, “He made Joseph the head of the household, and he put all his possessions into his hand.” Joseph took care of all the affairs because he entrusted it to the Ministry of Justice, and the prison did not look after anything that was entrusted to him... ” he said. And in prison, he faithfully took care of the work of the prisoners. All of these things came to fruition, eventually making him the prime minister of Egypt.
All of this did not happen by chance. God was with them and gave them grace, and Joseph also did his best to reverence God for the work that was given to him.
The day before the end of the semester at the seminary, I heard prayers in the classroom. As the professor passed by, he wondered who prayed so hard and looked out the window and saw that he was a student in his department. I heard a prayer because I wanted to be special. Isn't it praying out loud saying, "Heavenly Father, when I have the test tomorrow, the Holy Spirit will work so that I can know everything and teach you the answer?" The professor, who felt sorry for him, called the student and said, “Tomorrow is an exam, so prayer is good, but I will study now.” But the student said, "Professor, don't worry. Where is it that God does not know?” he answered coolly.
The next day, it was time for the Bible exam. The student who was praying last night accepted the test paper, but he never knew it. So, while I was thinking about it, wisdom suddenly came to my mind, so I filled out the answer sheet first, submitted it, and leisurely left the exam room. When the professor received the answer sheet, it was an amazing answer. The answer is very simple, “God knows everything.” The professor was grading, and I was worried about how to grade. But wisdom came to the professor as well. The professor graded it like this and returned it to the student. “God knows everything, so 100 points, you don’t know anything, so 0 points”
We clearly believe that God is not impossible. However, we must not evade or shift our responsibilities under the guise of God's omnipotence. If you have a dream and a wish, you have to make it come true as it was shown through Joseph.
There is a song that always appears on the Jewish Passover after World War II. It is a beautiful song called 'Animamin', which in Hebrew means 'I believe'. It was surprisingly the Auschwitz concentration camp where this song was composed. It was also an unfortunate Jew imprisoned there. This song starts like this.
“We believe that a savior will come. But he comes a little late... ”
By the way, around that time a young and capable Jewish surgeon was taken to Auschwitz by the Nazis. Every day he saw the death procession of his people departing for gas chambers and laboratories. And he knew he would soon be sacrificed to the gas chamber. During forced labor, the young doctor secretly hid a piece of a broken glass bottle buried in the dirt in his trouser pocket. And from that day on, he shaved morning and evening with the sharp shards of the broken glass, without knowing when he was going to die.
In the afternoon, the Nazis came and picked the executioners to send to the gas chambers. When the Nazis saw the ambitious surgeon's jaw, shaved blue enough to bleed with pieces of a glass bottle, they couldn't bring him to the gas chamber. Because his well-shaved blue chin gave him the preconceived notion that he was a very useful human being, which made him think it was too early for the Nazis to kill him. Eventually he survived until the total defeat of the Nazis. When he left the death camp alive, he had only one piece of the broken glass bottle in his possession. The Jewish doctor says:
“God's help is never late. It's just that we're too hasty."
God is never late. Let's look at Psalm 105:17-19. “You sent a man ahead of you; Joseph is sold as a slave. His feet were broken in his garb, and his body was bound with chains, until the word of the LORD came true, and his word tested him.” God strengthens us in the midst of hardship so that our dreams can come true.
It is a difficult task to do our diligence to make our dreams a reality. But, like Joseph or a Jewish surgeon, you just have to find what you can do right now around you and work hard to reach the best of your ability and strength. in the fear of God.
Do you also have many dreams? As God showed us through Joseph, I pray that you will be able to think deeply about your dreams in the fear of God, express them concretely, and do your best to achieve beautiful results.