Greatness for the Lord is the result of a dream. While it is true that everyone who is in Christ has been given a calling, not everyone who is called is given a dream, but everyone with a dream is called. Dreams are dive callings are vehicles in which the Lord brings about His will on earth as it is in heaven. Dreams are the ideals of God and when they commence they will shake up the world and the church by challenging and altering the status quo.
We have read and seen many such examples of this. The accounts of Abraham, Moses, David, the Apostle Paul, John Calvin and Martin Luther are a few examples of massive dreams that challenged and altered the status quo. We just commemorated the dream of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. which did the same against the division with this country. We have seen what God-given dreams look like. There is, however, another whose dream would shake the foundations of culture and redemption: Joseph. Genesis 37 gives the account of two dreams Jospeh was given by the Lord which, in the account of the Bible, was one dream: Joseph would be a savior for his people in their most difficult times. Here is what happens when you tell people the dream the Lord has laid upon you.
They will MISUNDERSTAND you. When Joseph told his dream his family immediately responded from their own perspective. They heard Jospeh saying that he would reign and rule over them (verse 8). Whether Jospeh did not know the totality of the dream but we do and ruling over them as one who would dictate their lives was not what the dream meant. When you speak of your dream it will so challenge cultural norms that people will conclude things about it and you that will be false but they will treat you on the basis of their misunderstanding.
You will experience HATRED. When David told his dream to the family his brothers, who already hated him (verse 4), "hated him even more" (verses 5, 8). When you announce your dream you will be saying two things that will created intense feelings about you. First, you will be saying that what currently exists is either wrong, insufficient, and or ungodly. That is challenging enough but, by announcing your dream you will be saying that God has assigned you a significant role in fixing it. Joseph was going against protocol within an honor culture where rank is priority. Being young might have made him the favorite (v3) but that did not change order. But Joseph's dream seemed to go against cultural norms of order and placed him, the youngest boy, at the top of everyone, including his father, Jacob. Hatred ensued.
You will experience REBUKE. Â Jospeh was seventeen years old and he was the youngest son, yet he spoke with such confidence about his dream that Jacob had to rebuke him (verse10). His brothers hated him but his father rebuked him. Older people will often look at confident younger people and conclude that they are either idealistic or arrogant. The assumption will be that they cannot be right because he or she is merely a child. When someone who has no voice speaks as if their voice is or will be the dominant voice, those around them, especially those who are older, will rebuke them and or call them arrogant.
You will experience DERISION. People around you, those whose lives are challenged by your dream, will begin to mock and speak disrespectfully to you as well as about you. Joseph's brothers, when they saw him said "Here comes the dreamer"(verse 19). The reason they will deride you is, yes, because the dream challenges the status quo, but there is another reason. They will mock you because they cannot see what you have been blessed to have seen. Since they cannot see it they will mock you for giving your life to something that clearly is not possible. Can you imagine what they said to Noah when he was building an ark for 120 years because rain was coming? We see how that ended.
There will be attempts to STOP you. Joseph's brothers trued to get rid of Joseph because they believed that if he was out of sight so too would the dream. They sold him (verse 28). We know from the story that this would not be the last time Joseph's dream seemed to be stopped but, ultimately, what God gave him would come to pass. Those who are given God-sized dreams must understand that the path towards the dream, executing the plan, will lead to many plots to hinder your progress and fulfillment. Dreamers are always seen as people who challenge the status quo because that is exactly what they are!
If God has given you a calling loaded with a dream you will need courage and conviction. Nothing around you and very few who are near to you will embrace what you speak. The dream, if it is a God-dream will cut through the status quo of Christianity, morality, politics, society, education, etc,. If you been given a dream but need applause, lots of people around you and the success that is given to those who "follow the rules," you will falter and God will give the dream - calling to another.