Captured Dreams

Joseph’s mouth was dry and all he could taste was the sand and grit that the desert wind had blown into the water reservoir. While the smooth walls surrounding Joseph were 4 or 5 times his height, they offered no shade from the blistering desert sun. During summer, often the reservoir would be filled with gentle evening rain, but today the only moisture in the cistern was Joseph’s own salty tears he had cried. He begged his brothers to pull him out. Surely they wouldn’t leave him here, Joseph thought to himself. “What will they tell Father?” Even now, Joseph took bitter pleasure in the wrath Jacob would unleash on the older brothers for such harsh and cruel treatment of their
younger sibling.

Joseph sat at the bottom of the dry well recounting the events of the day. It had all started when his father, Jacob, had asked Joseph to go into the fields to check on his older brothers. The last thing Joseph’s father had said to him was, “Bring me back a report of their activity [and don’t forget your coat.]” (Gen 37:14 

Joseph had set out happily on his way, energized by both his youthful love for adventure, and the task his father had commissioned him too. Along the way, he recounted the dreams he had been having, savoring the details, especially the picture in his mind of his older brothers bowing to him. This gave Joseph great delight, since he was the next to the youngest of 13 boys. And as one of the youngest had endured a fair amount of aggravation and injustice at the hands of his elder siblings. When he arrived in Dothan, he proudly announced to his brothers the reason for his visit. Emphasizing the part where he had been assigned to give a report to their father Jacob. An argument had followed along with a lot of shoving and pushing. When the brothers had encircled Joseph like a pack of wolves after a lamb, Joseph realized he had gone too far, when a few of his brothers suggested they kill Joseph to shut him up. Joseph had no idea that their anger and jealousy over Jacob’s favoritism had kindled this type of anger. 

“Thank God Rueben had spoken up on his behalf” Joseph thought, but that had not stopped the others from stripping him of his beloved colored coat and pitching him into the reservoir. Joseph could hear voices above his head but he couldn’t make out the specifics of the discussion. Joseph thought of his younger brother Benjamin back at home safe within their father’s camps and wished he had not been so eager for today’s adventure. Joseph had grown hoarse  from begging and apologizing, but Judah and the others did not pay any attention to his pleadings. Instead they had laughed and mocked the irony of the dreams Joseph had so haughtily shared with them. The irony struck Joseph that his dream had conveyed he would be over his brothers, not the other way around. Whether Joseph wanted to admit it or not, he was in a position of a vulnerable captive. Even now they were eating a hearty meal while his belly growled over the long ago breakfast. Without a voice or tears left, Joseph sat waiting for the outcome when he heard the sound of hoofbeats echoing through the dry well, “At last!” Joseph exclaimed. Help had arrived and he would be rescued from this terrible nightmare of a day. It was probably his own father Jacob who had come to see for himself what was happening in Dothan. Joseph couldn’t wait to give Jacob his report.

Sometimes it is so hard for me to take in the depth of detail scripture provides, that if I rush through the account, I can miss the teachable moments the words offer. If you are not familiar with the story of Joseph, the son of Jacob, found in the book of Genesis, it’s a great account of how God works in the life of a person through their events and struggles. It is an amazing historical narrative that draws a picture of all the highs and lows a guy can face in life while God’s faithfulness and favor are the canvas on which it is painted. I love that Joseph is characterized by his unique character and gifts. I have the advantage of looking back and I can plainly see the providence of God at work in his life from very early on. This is a good reminder for me, as I am likely to get on the treadmill of the daily and get caught up in the mechanics of life. Before I know it, my prayer and devotional life can consist of routine requests, casual thanks and I can lose the wonder and amazement of pursuing the dreams God has for me. If I am not careful I can worship time in the short term and lose the long term perspective of what God is trying to accomplish in me and through me. 

I have had to confess many times the influence of instant gratification has on my spirit, as I am reminded God is not bound by time. God is both instantaneous and supplantive. He also has this characteristic of long term remodeling, that once it is unleashed in a person’s life, it produces a masterpiece that at times leaves me speechless. In my own life, I take a look around at the short-term blessings and recognize His power. But it is often in the lifetime destinations like vocation, location, relationships, and ministry where I see His signature mysteriously magnificent. You know, the days when you honestly admit you wouldn’t be where you are if God hadn’t been in the details, moving you around and working it all out.

For all of us, just like Joseph, dreams can start early. Dreams can be marginalized by practicality or thwarted and even destroyed by choices a person can make. Joseph’s dreams were definitely influenced by his own pride and his father, Jacob’s favor. But I believe ultimately, God was the author of Joseph’s dream. The reason I believe this is because of the scriptural account of Joseph’s life and where he wound up. His dream, though confusing, was accurate. The dream was good, it was Joseph the dreamer, that needed a little refining. Too often, when things go off track in my own life, I am quick to look for someone to blame. Because I believe God is sovereign, God often gets the blame for my disappointments and unfulfilled dreams. I have had to learn to ask myself, is this a God dream or something I desire? Often the answer comes back that it is not a dream placed in my heart by the Lord but a mirage I have concocted out of just plain old wanting something. 

The second question and lesson that is all the more painful is this; “If this is what God has dreamed for me, am I trying to get in God’s lane and hurry up the process because of impatience?” It was painful for me to discover  that my own impatience often has its grass roots in unbelief. Impatience can foster distrust if I don’t depend on God to bring whatever He has birthed to fruition. Similarly, Joseph, while he dreamed of leadership and greatness, a dream placed in his heart by God, wanted to pridefully rush the process. He boasted that his family would bow before him. Yep, that happened! It was not until many years and life lessons later that it occurred. Joseph had the potential for greatness, but he had to develop a fortitude to be able to handle it in a way that would honor God.  

I wonder what went through Joseph’s young mind the day of his capture? Did he dismiss his once arrogant assurance of the validity of his dream and chalk it up to boyish fantasy? How does a vision of grandeur look from the bottom of a dry well?  If you follow God long enough, your faith will be challenged. I have never been held captive but I sure have had periods of enslavement stemming from weak faith and lost hope. Times where it looked by all evidence that a dream was lost.  But while I was waiting and praying, God would turn my skeptical heart towards Him, reminding me of all the things He had brought me through. Slowly the dream would be resurrected but often refined and clearer in its direction and purpose. I believe this is the providential work of God lovingly inviting us to dream along with Him. It is a divine invitation to not spectate, but rather participate in the dream He has for us. 

Joseph would face this opportunity and invitation many times in his life but that day in the cistern was a turning point where both the dream and the dreamer would begin to mature. It amazes me that out of captivity would come  the revelation that God was still dreaming on behalf of Joseph when all seemed lost. When I was researching the historical details of the times, I learned that a cistern is different from a well in that a well is fed from underground, a cistern is supplied from sources above it. And a cistern is used to capture and store the water,  keep it clean until it is time for it to be used. Both of these facts have spiritual application. First, when I am tempted to utilize my own power to make a dream come true, I need to be reminded, my source comes from above, not below. Not by my own meager power.  Secondly, I need to remember that when I feel trapped by the circumstances of life, whatever they may be, It is good to recognize  perhaps I have been “temporarily captured” for a bigger purpose and my dream and I are being reserved for a later use for the greater glory of God and for the good of myself.