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I have a dream...


I have a dream. The famous words used by Martin Luther King in his century-defining speech. One biblical character makes a similar declaration but in the past tense, “I’ve had a dream”. Joseph, a young man, has two dreams in which (through various images) his brothers are depicted as bowing down to him. As a result, his already wound up jealous brothers, decide this is the last straw, and plan to destroy Joseph. First, by literally killing him, but eventually settling on the good old “sell your little brother into slavery” scenario.

This story came to mind recently, and I recognised something in Joseph that stands in contrast to another biblical character - David. You see, Joseph has a God given dream, and uses his God-given gift (dream interpretation), but he jumps ahead of the gun, and shares something that wasn’t ready, he trusts in his timing, and not in God’s.

David, on the face of it, shares many similarities with Joseph, he is also a younger brother, he too tends to his fathers flocks, and in this place receives a calling from God to something greater than tending to sheep. David is selected as the next King of Israel, but like Joseph this dream, this calling would not come into fruition immediately, but would actually take years before it became a reality.

David has a God given dream (to be king) and a God given gifting (a warrior), but rather than flaunt it over his brothers, or take what is God-given and make it man-made, he trusts God and waits. Even when he has an opportunity to speed up the process (1 Samuel 24), David spares Saul’s life and waits.

Joseph is also forced to wait, and he has to endure years of slavery, and false imprisonment before the God-dream is realised. 

One of the most striking challenges for us in this comparison is that David who more often than not acts righteously, also has to spend years in exile, on the run and hiding in caves. You see trusting God does not guarantee an easy ride like an express lane at the airport, but is required for us to learn what is required. David was trained for the palace while in the fields, was trained for power not just when he had it but when he had little. If we choose to humble ourselves it can often save us from God having to do it for us.

You too have a purpose in God, and you have God-given gifts that have been given to you to help you fulfil that purpose. But remember there is no fast-lane in the kingdom. The way of Jesus is servanthood. He was born in a stable, he wasn’t born with a silver spoon in his mouth. 

The challenge of the stories of Joseph and David is that, yes God gives us guarantees for our lives, but he doesn’t promise them now. So the best place to keep the dream is close to you heart, not rubbing it in others faces.


‘For I am confident of this very thing, that he who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus’ - Philippians 1:6.


Photo by Viktor Juric on Unsplash

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