*Don’t Give Up on Your Dream!*
`For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Jeremiah 29:11`
Dreams are conceived long before they are achieved. The period of time between the birth of a dream and its realization is always a process. The Bible says that when Joseph told his family about his dream, his father responded, _“What is this dream that you have dreamed? Shall your mother and I and your brothers indeed come to bow down to the earth before you?”_ (Genesis 37:10). His brothers’ response was worse: _Then they said to one another, “Look, this dreamer is coming! Come therefore, let us now kill him and cast him into some pit; andwe shall say, ‘Some wild beast has devoured him.’ We shall see what will become of his dreams!”_ (GENESIS 37:19-20)
Clearly, Joseph wasn’t going to get any support from anyone in his family. It is very difficult to retain your dream when your family wants you to release it. But when your dream comes from God, the dream holds you when you feel unable to hold it.
Don’t Give Up on Your Dream Even If Your Journey Is Full of Surprises Just because things don’t go as planned, that’s no reason to give up. Look at Joseph and learn how he reacted. Every dream contains negative surprises that can greatly discourage you. How did Joseph have the strength not to give up on his dream? Every time he found himself in a give-up time of life, he realized that the Lord was with him. That’s what mattered. God is too good to be unkind. God is too wise to be confused. Even when life made no sense to Joseph, it made sense to God. In the end, Joseph ruled his family, was reconciled withhis brothers, and saved the nation of Israel. You never know what God’stimetable will look like. When you’re in the middle of the journey, nevergive up on your dream.
Your brother in Christ,
Apostle Ashok Martin