A Dream Come True?

“Joseph had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers, they hated him all the more. He said to them, ‘Listen to this dream I had: We were binding sheaves of grain out in the field when suddenly my sheaf rose and stood upright, while your sheaves gathered around mine and bowed down to it.” - Genesis 37:5-6


Growing up, did your parents have a “favorite child?” I say this with a hint of sarcasm because, for most of us, our parents did not actually like one kid more than the other, but we all liked to say the favorite was one of our siblings. It was never us.

Now, obviously, for most of us, we were just joking. But for Joseph’s brothers, this is how they really felt. Joseph had twelve brothers, and they were all jealous of him. They knew that Joseph was their father’s favorite. Joseph’s father, Jacob, favored Joseph’s mom as his favorite wife (over their moms) and favored Joseph as his favorite son.

You can probably imagine then, if they were already jealous of him, how frustrated they became when he told them about his dream in Genesis 37:5-6, “Joseph had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers, they hated him all the more. He said to them, ‘Listen to this dream I had: We were binding sheaves of grain out in the field when suddenly my sheaf rose and stood upright, while your sheaves gathered around mine and bowed down to it.”

At this point, not only is Joseph the favorite, but he is telling them they would all bow down to him. This frustrated the boys so much that, long story short, they came up with a plan that involved shoving Joseph into a ditch and selling him to some Midianite merchants.

Now, Joseph’s dream does come true. His brothers did eventually bow down to him, but not before a life filled with hard times, difficult trials, and unfortunate breaks. God blessed Joseph, but it did not mean everything was easy for him. In fact, everything up to that point when they bowed down was extremely difficult.

Do you have a dream? Dreams are great, and if we are faithful, God might even bless those dreams and allow them to come true. But that does not prevent us from the difficult times before the dream. Joseph realized his dream because he stayed faithful to God. No matter how difficult life gets, dreams can come true. But you must stay faithful to Him!