When was your first real dream, the first time God gave you a dream you knew was from Him?
Have you held onto that dream? Or has it seemed like life has gotten in the way and you’ve been blocked from achieving what God has called you to?
If so, you’re not alone. In fact, the Bible has plenty of examples we can learn from that will help us get back on track.
Here are 3 ways the life of Joseph can show you what’s blocking your dreams:
In Genesis 37, we get introduced to Joseph.
In his youth, he starts revealing his dreams. In his excitement about the dreams, he runs and tells his brothers. He then has a second dream that reaffirms the first dream and he shares that as well.
We have the benefit of reading Joseph’s story from beginning to end, so we know how it turns out. But this does show us the first potential blocker to our dreams.
1. God’s love for you separates you
When we read the story of Joseph, we can overlook the beginning part of the chapter and skip to his dreams, but we miss some important verses.
“Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was the son of his old age: and he made him a coat of many colours.”
Genesis 37:3 KJV
The very first time Joseph is mentioned, were told how much his father loves him. But when Joseph brother’s came to realize how much their father loved Joseph, they hated him.
You see, God’s love for us separates us.
“But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession.” 1 Peter 2:9
It’s not comfortable to be set apart when most people aim to blend in. Joseph didn’t blend in, he had a colorful coat he wore everywhere he went!
Sometimes, we would rather fit in and be comfortable than step out in a way that might be get us noticed or unwanted attention.
If you’re staying in your comfort zone and refusing to step out into the dream God has called you to achieve, this might be the obstacle that’s stopping you.
2. Telling our dreams to the wrong people
Like Joseph, having a dream from God can stir up so much excitement in us that we feel like we need to tell anyone who will listen.
In Joseph’s excitement, he may not have realized how his brothers felt about him. He may not have been able to see the signs or just chalked it up to the way brothers act.
But Joseph’s brothers envied him and despised him so much that they sold him into slavery. This just shows that not everyone needs to know the dreams God gives you.
However, this doesn’t mean we should keep them to ourselves either – but there are people in our lives we know would be dream killers or dream doubters.
These would be the pessimists that never see the cup as half full and would criticize you for thinking big. It comes down to making sure our dreams are firmly fixed and grounded in our hearts before sharing them.
That is how Joseph was able to hold onto his dream. It was so fixed in his heart that, even though his brothers set in motion a series of terrible events, he trusted God and never allowed those things to block his dream.
Which leads us to a third potential dream blocker.
3. Speaking the opposite of our dream
Joseph’s brothers sell him into slavery in Genesis 37. From there, we see that he ends up in a new country in the house of a man named Potiphar. Through a series of events, he finds himself in jail because Potiphar’s wife made a false accusation about him.
An attack on his life, sold into slavery by family, and thrown in jail, and what comforted Joseph in all of this was knowing God was with him. We never hear of Joseph speaking or doing something contrary to the dream God gave him.
The journey of life is never a straight line. We don’t go from having our dream and then immediately seeing it come to pass. There are twists and turns along the way. Despite what we face, we can’t speak against God or the dream He’s given us.
Our words carry weight and power, and God’s words are the example for us.
It was His words that created the heavens and earth. We are made in his image; therefore our words are also powerful. God has placed a dream on your heart. Don’t let your words combat His.
Maybe it’s been awhile since you’ve dreamed, or you’ve realized there’s been a blocker to your dream. God’s love for you is so powerful that He hasn’t forgotten His plans for you and He’s ready for you to dream again.
But we can simply come back to Him and acknowledge that we’ve let go of our dream and need help.
He is ready and willing to guide us from the prison to the palace.
So what do we do now?
The first thing is to pray. Make the commitment to prayer. Communicating with God is the first step to unblocking your dreams.
Next, follow these three lessons and get back on track to achieving what God has called you to!
