GrowByDesign
Achieving Your Dream
The story of Joseph’s rise from the pit to the palace is full of encouragement to help you on your journey from dream to fulfillment. Here are 3 stages from that story that we can learn from, as we move forward towards achieving any God-given dream.
The Dreaming Stage
“Joseph had a dream.. He said to them, “Listen to this dream I had..” – Genesis 37:5
Joseph was so excited when he received his dream that he couldn’t stop speaking about it. When a dream is initially dropped in your heart, this is the most exciting, motivating and energising stage. It prompts you to prepare for the dream to come to pass.
It is at this stage that God reveals His ultimate plans for your life, or a particular area of your life. However the journey from dream to fulfilment is still yet to unfold…
The Transition Stage
Now Joseph had been taken down to Egypt… – Genesis 39:1
When Joseph had the dream, never would he have anticipated the next stage of his journey.
This is the stage when you journey from dream to fulfilment. It’s often during this transition stage that you encounter a multitude of unexpected twists and turns. This can be the most thrilling, challenging and frustrating part. It often takes much longer than anticipated. However, this is where you are being moulded and refined for the fulfilment of what God showed you.
We are given few details about how Joseph reacted during his transition stage. I imagine that he responded like many others in his situation would have done. Sometimes his faith would have been stronger than other days. Some days he would have been hopeful, other days he would have felt dejected. However, throughout all of this, God was with him even when it didn’t seem or feel like it. Unbeknownst to him, his greatest days were still ahead of him. Like Joseph, during the transition stage your story is only getting started. The best is yet to come…
The Fulfilment Stage
So Pharaoh sent for Joseph, and he was quickly brought from the dungeon.. – Genesis 41:14
The day that Joseph’s dream was fulfilled must have started like any other ordinary day, yet it was the day that his life changed forever. Pharoah sent for Joseph and he was quickly released from the dungeon. Suddenly, the long-awaited dream was about to reach the stage of fulfilment.
I don’t know why some things take longer than expected… but I do know that God can make up for “lost” time in an instant. Despite the delay, that dream can quickly come to pass. This is the stage when you realize that whatever you went through during the transition stage was all worth it.
The part I love the most was when Joseph was able to say; “God has made me forget all my troubles..” (Genesis 41:51). In the same way, when the dream comes to pass in your life, it will blow your mind to the extent that you forget the trouble you encountered along the way to get there.
Well detailed, inspiring and informative.