Genesis 37:19 (NLT)
"Here comes the dreamer!" they said.
Reflection:
Usually we hear about dreams around February, when Martin Luther King, Jr's "I had a dream" speech once more becomes important. Or maybe dreams are part of your everyday thought process, as you try to remember that dream that startled out of a deep sleep in the middle of the night. Or, that poem that you learned in your youth sticks in your head as a reminder of living out your potential, Langston Hughes asked, "What happens to a dream deferred?"
When we meet Joseph, his brothers call him a dreamer, and he was. But aren't we all dreamers at some point, with stars in our eyes, knowing that we are meant for SOMETHING. ANYTHING.
Some of us have heard God's voice speak greatness into our lives and yet, we stay still and much like a raisin in the sun, we dry up. But we are meant for greater things. We are meant to dream big. Because when we dream big and put our fears aside, we allow faith to take over and walk us into our destiny.
Peter walked on water when all he had was a notion of a dream. How else can you explain daring to ask Jesus to call him over and allow him to walk on water? When you dare to ask God, you get a guide. And for Peter, Jesus was his guide. When Peter truly opened his eyes and realized that the impossible had become possible, he fell into the water, more afraid of the known than the unknown.
We need to be like all those dreamers who came before, who paved a way for us. Joseph was a dreamer, and though his life was complicated, he lived the life of a dreamer. Peter, when he dreamed, was able to walk on water. Martin Luther King, Jr. had a dream, and we are still living towards that dream. Langston Hughes knew that dreams left untreated and unfulfilled could someday explode.
But I envision that explosion as an explosion of God's glory pushing you forward, towards something you remember once having wanted. Be a dreamer. Live towards God's dream.
Prayer:
God of us dreamers, protect us from ourselves. Keep us focused on you, let us together dream big. Rescue us from our fear filled eyes and guide us towards your purpose. Amen.
Elly Mendez Angulo Brown
co-pastor of Manantial de Gracia "Spring of Grace" in West Hartford