Paul the Apostle prayed an awesome prayer (Ephesians 1:15 – 23) that these believers would see, would have a revelation of the glorious things God had prepared for their future: a great hope, a great calling, a
great inheritance for this age, AND the age to come.
When Hannah celebrated Samuel’s birth with these words, He raises the poor from the dust And lifts the beggar from the ash heap, To set them among princes And make them inherit the throne of glory (1 Samuel 2:8), she was singing what Paul was praying.
I love the story of a young man who dreamed that dream – the one Paul prayed, the one Hannah sang.
A young man who held that great hope, his name is Joseph.
On a recent Monday evening I read a Facebook post, it simple said “To be part of God’s great plan just puts me in awe”
I especially liked this post because it was from someone who had been at our church, Elevate, the day before. That was the day we’d been sharing about God’s awesome plan to fill us with his glory so that all creation and nations of the earth come and worship God. Now, our sharing about the coming glory may not have anything to do with this post – the important thing is that someone has been doing some dreaming!
I love the story of a young man who dreamed that dream – the one Paul prayed, the one Hannah sang.
A young man who held that great hope, his name is Joseph (Genesis 37:1 – 11)
The dreams that Joseph dreamed defined his life from that time on. We might think that this was solely because of his brothers actions that he became a captive of the Midianites, then a slave of Potiphar the Egyptian, and then the hardship of being prisoner in Egypt. But God was preparing Joseph to reign . . . yes, it was God’s dream that Joseph dreamed . . . and preparation for the throne of glory is not a pathway of ease, complacency and cruisy Christianity.
It’s because God desires to bring forth a people of Christ-like character that character is tried like gold in the refiners fire.
It’s because God will have a people reigning in His strength and power that our strength and pride are broken.
It’s because God is creating a company of great grace and beauty that he allows the sand of suffering to grate inside the oyster.
It’s because God will have faithful sons sit with him in his throne that they experience the pain of betrayal, just as Jesus had.
God was preparing Joseph to reign. The dream was God-given and would be fulfilled as long as Joseph held it dear and never allowed the trials to pry it loose from his hand.
It wasn’t the cruelty of his brothers, or the lies of Potiphar’s wife, or the irresponsible forgetfulness of the butler, nor the harsh conditions of an Egyptian prison that tried him . . . it was the word of the Lord than tested him! (Psalm 105:16 – 22)
Every circumstance that was the opposite to the joy of sitting in a place of great authority and influence . . . challenged and tried the dream, the word he’d believed!
Every day he was shackled or enslaved shouted at him “Forget the dream, Joseph, it’s a fantasy”, “Forget the promise of God”. The test was whether or not Joseph would hold the dream even through the most shocking contradictions to it. The word of the Lord tested him.
But this young man held firm for. And because Joseph passed the test and stayed faithful to the word of the Lord, we read: The king sent and released him, The ruler of the people let him go free. He made him lord of his house, And ruler of all his possessions, To bind his princes at his pleasure, And teach his elders wisdom. Israel also came into Egypt, And Jacob dwelt in the land of Ham. He increased His people greatly, And made them stronger than their enemies (Psalm 105:20 – 24)
Not everyone has a dream to reign in the power and glory of God’s throne. Joseph had 11 brothers, but he is the only of whom we read had a dream. I was pondering this, and asking what was different about Joseph. Then I realised, that Joseph was the only child nurtured and raised by Rachel. Rachel should’ve been the only mother of Jacob’s children, but she had to endure the trial of barrenness whilst Leah, Bilhah and Zilpah were bearing Jacobs offspring. Rachel too held a dream through much pain, stayed faithful to Jacob and prevailed . . . that’s the woman who raised a Joseph.
Not everyone has a dream to reign in the power and glory of God’s throne. We all have the same Heavenly Father, but not the same mother. That’s why some Christians have dream to reign on the throne of glory and others do not.
Like a mother, the local church (particularly the ministry in a church) has the responsibility for our nurture, our food and our care . . . Remember Paul? as soon as he hears that the Ephesians had put their faith in Jesus, he like a mother starts to pray for their vision, for their dream, for their ability to grasp a full understanding of what this is all about – our inheritance in the glory of God.
Because of three things: his life of faithfulness to others, his determination to never give up or let go the dream, and his ability to interpret the king’s dream . . . Joseph became the administrator of salvation to the nations of the earth that were in famine and dying.
Let me encourage you. Don’t give up, don’t let go . Get to know the King’s dream and make it your dream. Live a life of faithfulness to others no matter what people may do to you.
God has a throne, not for the wishy washy, but for the Joseph’s from every generation. It won’t be every believer . . . but it can be you.
The
Dreamer