Erwin McManus once said, “Churches are filled with people who are going to die with the dreams God has for them trapped inside their souls.” That’s a haunting thought. It was a quote that helped motivate me to take the risk of reinventing our church. I wonder if you’re willing to let the Holy Spirit liberate the dreams God put inside you. But it’s easy to quit. Because often between the time God initiates the dream, and when it comes to pass, we have to weather some trying circumstances. It’s the chaotic middle of God’s dreams. And it’s when most people quit. I’m reminded of the story of Joseph in Genesis 37-39.
At age 17 God gave Joseph a dream. At age 30 God fulfilled that dream as Joseph was the most powerful man in the most powerful nation on the planet at the time. You may think, “That sounds like a pretty good plan! Please, God put me on that career path!” However, the 13 years in the middle were a chaotic roller coaster ride for Joseph.
Joseph started with a dream. God showed him that he was going to do great things. Joseph started picturing it, he was going to make his father proud. He was going to be a leader. But all of the sudden his life started to go down what seemed to be a completely opposite path. He was sold into slavery. Instead of his dream where everyone was bowing down to him, in real life, Joseph was the one doing the bowing.
Dreams are conceived long before they are achieved. Between the birth of a dream and its realization is always a process. A middle season. A waiting. This period is often filled with doubts, and adversity, struggle and changes and surprises. Joseph must have doubted God’s dream many times during his life. During slavery, during prison time. I wonder sometimes if Joseph lacked confidence when he was interpreting the dreams of others, knowing in the back of his head that his big dream had yet to come true.
There will always come a moment when we are forced with a dilemma… should I give up or go on? If the dream is from God – don’t you dare give up! Remember the dreams God was giving to Joseph were ultimately not for Joseph. They were outlining God’s plan to eventually save His people. And even though it didn’t look like it at times, God’s fingerprints were all over the events of Joseph’s story. When you read through chapter 37 the number of “coincidences” that lead to Joseph being thrown into the pit are staggering. If any one of those details hadn’t happened, Joseph’s story would have turned out differently. God would have needed another roundabout way to save his people from famine 13 years later.
Unless everything happened exactly the way it happened, Joseph would have never been in the position he was in to save the Israelites. God’s wise, redeeming love is shockingly compatible with even the terrible things happening in the lives of those He loves. Which means, God’s love for you can coexist with terrible disappointments, and the most brutal turn of events. So when we read in Genesis 37:23-24 that,
when Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped him of his robe, the robe of many colors that he wore. And they took him and threw him into a pit. The pit was empty; there was no water in it.
The word “stripped” is the same word that’s used to skin an animal. Look at how violent this is; look at how a brutal this is! They seized him. They stripped him. They threw him in naked; they abandoned him to die. He cries out, he screams; and nothing happens.
And if this hadn’t happened, and if it didn’t happen just like this, Joseph would have never been positioned as the rescuer from the famine. And the famine was only a physical threat. The spiritual threat to God’s people was just as great. You see, only because Joseph was rejected, only because Joseph was sold in slavery, only because all these awful things happened: will Joseph himself be saved from his pride that was turning him into a wicked person; only then will the brothers be saved from the hate which was turning them into violent people, and even Jacob the father, was suffering from a hard and despondent heart. If all these awful things hadn’t happened, there wouldn’t have been salvation for God’s people through Joseph.
It must have been particularly hard for Joseph when he was doing everything right but God still didn’t seem to be coming through for him. This is a reminder that God’s silence does not mean absence. One of the key phrases in the story of Joseph is at the very beginning of chapter 39 in verse 2 where it says, “The Lord was with Joseph.” You see, it was when God’s plan didn’t make sense that Joseph discovered that he was not alone. It’s hard to know how Joseph felt or how he specifically experienced God’s presence, we just know God’s presence was there.
During times of hardship, God’s presence is more valuable than answers. It would be like trying to explain to a 3-year-old the detailed process of what it takes to get into college someday. They wouldn’t understand even if you explained it perfectly. Often, we want immediate answers to our circumstances. Sometimes we just wish God would tell us why certain things are happening. But like that 3-year-old, it would probably just be beyond us. Maybe his presence is simply preparing us for our future purpose.
When you mix one-part suffering with one-part deep assurance of the Father’s love, you get a wiser, deeper, happier person. You get a person who understands people better, who can help people better, and who understands their own hearts better. Suffering alone can ruin you, but suffering with the addition of an absolute assurance of love of God can make your soul strong.
if you believe that sometimes God doesn’t seem to be answering prayer, but He is actually working it out some other way, how strong might you be? And if in that moment you choose to quit, well quitting may bring temporary relief, but it tends to produce people who live in a constant pattern of giving up when times get hard.
Every time you quit it shapes your character a little bit. It forges your character a little bit and makes quitting a little bit easier the next time. Strong character gets forged when you endure even though you feel like quitting. Don’t give up on God’s dream, even when crazy stuff is happening. You might just be in the chaotic middle of the beautiful story he’s writing. You may need to wait 3 months, or 3 years, or 13 years like Joseph did, before your dream is realized. But remember, he who began a good work in you will be faithful to complete it.
