Keeping your dreams alive!

God never simply buries our dead and broken dreams because He'd be burying our hearts along with our dreams. One of two positive things will happen. Either the dream will become fertilizer for something even better, or the Lord will give me the gumption and oomph to bring my dream to fruition. I can't lose either way!

~ Noni Joy Tari ~


Excerpt & edited from James Watkins' Message :

We all have dreams, no matter what age: to be a firefighter, a princess, a parent, a successful businessperson, pastor, a retiree in Florida.
But somewhere between the womb and the tomb, those dreams die...

The Old Testment's Joseph had a dream to be a great leader with his parents and brothers bowing down before him. But before that dream could be realized, his jealous brothers had ripped up his "coat of many colors" thrown him into a cistern, and sold him to Egyptian slave traders.

Even sincere Christians with God-given dreams find themselves bruised and bloodied at the bottom of a pit. That seems to be the rule, rather than the exception.

The dream is received...

I believe that God has given each of His children a dream; a deep-down desire to accomplish something of eternal significance.
The more clearly we can articulate that dream, the closer we are to seeing it fulfilled. But . . . our dream is to be refined by God!

The dream is refined...

For Joseph's dream - and many of ours - to be fulfilled, there probably needs to be some serious refinement of the dreamer.
Doug Murren in Keeping Your Dreams Alive When They Steal Your Coat writes, "It isn't the dream that gets tested - it's the dreamer. When God gives a dream, there's nothing wrong with it. But the dreamer probably needs a lot of work."

At that time, a richly ornamented robe was a symbol of royalty and leadership. And where do we find Joseph wearing his coat? Out in the pasture! Just a bit pretentious. Joseph had to lose his coat - and his pride. His jealous brothers promptly strip him of his status, but God doesn't undress him of his dream.
From the pit, Joseph is dragged off to Potiphar's house where he serves for many years. And just as he has climbed the ladder of success there, Potiphar's wife strips him of another coat, charges him with sexual assault, and has him thrown in prison for two years.

But our experiences - as painful as they may be - are never wasted in God's plan. For eleven years Joseph learned the Egyptian language, culture, and management skills. And, most of all, this arrogant, boastful dreamer was being molded into the person who could see the dream fulfilled.
For Joseph, after of thirteen years of refinement and seven years as pharaoh's left-hand man of Egypt, it appeared the dream was fulfilled. Joseph's brothers came to Egypt to buy grain since there was a deadly famine in Caanan. And, they bowed down before the leader - Joseph. Everyone lived happily ever after. End of story. Roll the credits. Right? Wrong!

The dream is revised!

The "bowing down" part from Genesis 37 is a minor subplot to the real story! Look at Genesis 50:18-20:
"His brothers then came and threw themselves down before him. 'We are your slaves,' they said.
But Joseph said to them, 'Don't be afraid. 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.'"

Joseph, at seventeen, had only a glimpse of the dream. And at thirty-seven, he still didn't have a clue just how big the dream was.
Look at Matthew 1:2: "Abraham was the father of Isaac, Isaac the father of Jacob, Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers . . ." Then "fast forward" forty-two generations to verse 16: ". . . and Jacob the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ."
Without Joseph's dream, starvation would have prevented salvation! The ancestors of Christ would have perished, and you and I wouldn't be reading our Bible. That's a big dream!
The problem is often that our dream is not too big, but too small!

Noni Tari is quoted in Dare to Dream by Florence Littauer "God never simply buries our dead and broken dreams because He'd be burying our hearts along with our dreams. Instead, He creatively turns our failures into fertilizer for an even more wonderful dream, a dream with even more potential to become fruition."
Our goals and dreams probably need some re-vision!

The dream is revealed!

Osward Chambers, in My Utmost For His Highest, writes "God rarely allows a person to see how great a blessing he is to others."

So, where are you in your dream? Are you in the pit? In Potiphar's house? In prison? Or have you arrived at the palace?
God is with you wherever you are. And He will not waste one single experience in your life.
So, ask God to show you areas in your life that need to be refined and parts of the dream that need to be revised. And then trust Him to reveal the results of the dream.

Dream on, friend! DREAM ON!