WHEN YOUR DREAM IS DELAYED DEVELOPING GODS VISION FOR YOUR LIFE PART 3 OF 6 GENESIS 35:5-11 JAMES 1:5-8 Genesis 35:5-11 5And Joseph dreamed a dream, and he told it his brethren: and they hated him yet the more. 6And he said unto them, Hear, I pray you, this dream which I have dreamed: 7For, behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and, lo, my sheaf arose, and also stood upright; and, behold, your sheaves stood round about, and made obeisance to my sheaf. 8And his brethren said to him, Shalt thou indeed reign over us? or shalt thou indeed have dominion over us? And they hated him yet the more for his dreams, and for his words. 9And he dreamed yet another dream, and told it his brethren, and said, Behold, I have dreamed a dream more; and, behold, the sun and the moon and the eleven stars made obeisance to me. 10And he told it to his father, and to his brethren: and his father rebuked him, and said unto him, What is this dream that thou hast dreamed? Shall I and thy mother and thy brethren indeed come to bow down ourselves to thee to the earth? 11And his brethren envied him; but his father observed the saying. God had given Joseph a dream for his life. What is a Dream? A vision or God given dream is the revelation of Gods will and plan for our lives. In a vision God allows us to see what He sees for our lives. He reveals to us what it is that He wants us to know and do for His glory. As a people of God we cannot save the perishing without a vision of Gods purpose for our lives. Without a vision we will end up at the wrong place at the wrong time doing the wrong thing for the wrong reason. We must have a vision! Joseph was a dreamer. Joseph was approximately 17 years old when he had his dreams. He was about 30 years old when his dreams came to pass. There was a 23-year delay in Josephs dream. He had a dream of one day being a ruler. When Joseph shared that dream with his family, his brothers became angry with him and hated him. They hated him so much that they sold him into slavery. I can sum up the life of Joseph with two phrases. 1. From the Pit to The Palace. 2. From Rags to Riches. The journey of Joseph from the pit to the palace was a very difficult one. His journey from rags to riches was not a very pleasant one. He was hated, envied, enslaved, falsely accused, imprisoned for a crime that he didnt commit and forgotten by his friends. Many people would look at Joseph and say that his dreams would never come to pass. He would never amount to anything. There advice to Joseph would be, you will never make it so just give up and die. Joseph you will never be a ruler so quit trying. We can do what Joseph did when His dream was delayed. What do you do when your dream is delayed. I. When Dream Is Delayed Stand Firm In Your Commitment and Faith Genesis 39:7-9 7And it came to pass after these things, that his masters wife cast her eyes upon Joseph; and she said, Lie with me. 8But he refused, and said unto his masters wife, Behold, my master wotteth not what is with me in the house, and he hath committed all that he hath to my hand; 9There is none greater in this house than I; neither hath he kept back any thing from me but thee, because thou art his wife: how then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God? 10And it came to pass, as she spake to Joseph day by day, that he hearkened not unto her, to lie by her, or to be with her. Joseph dreams may have been delayed, but they had not died. Joseph never surrendered to these devastating events of his life. Rather than allowing these catastrophic events to become stumbling blocks Joseph turned them into steeping stones to get him closer to his destiny. How did Joseph survive these dangerous and devastating events in his life and eventually achieve his God-given dream? When Joseph faced delays he stood firm in his commitment and maintained his faith in God. We all face delays in our lives. How we handle these delays will determine the out come of our dreams. This is what normally happens. We get saved and God gives us a dream or a vision for our lives and we set out to accomplish it. The next thing we know we run into a roadblock. Something hinders us from accomplishing what we set out to accomplish. Or, it doesnt come to pass as quick as we want it to. When your dream is delayed stand firm in your commitment and maintain your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Lets look at some of the things that Joseph did that enabled him to keep his commitment and maintain his Faith in God. 1. He Established A Close Relationship With God. Nothing of any eternal value can happen in our lives without a relationship with God. He Gave Gods Word Top Priority In His Life. He Sought Gods Heart in Every Matter That Pertained To His Dream. He Refused To Compromise Under Pressure and Persisted In Righteousness. 2. He Maintained A Godly Hope. Hebrews 11:22 22By faith Joseph, when he died, made mention of the departing of the children of Israel; and gave commandment concerning his bones. 3. He Stayed Focused On The Dream That God Put In His Heart. He never took his eyes off the dream. He refused to let the dream die prematurely. He refused to abort the dream. He stayed focused. II. When Facing Delays Make A Conscience Decision to Constantly Pursue Your Dream. 1 Kings 18:21 21And Elijah came unto all the people, and said, How long halt ye between two opinions? If the LORD be God, follow him: but if Baal, then follow him. And the people answered him not a word. When our dreams are delayed we cannot just stand in the valley of indecision. We cannot afford to waver back and forth wandering if we missed God. Stay on track dont allow the Devil to derail you on your way to reaching Gods destiny for your life. You and I have to make a conscience decision to pursue our God given vision in spite of the delays. We cannot be double minded when it comes to the vision that God has given us. v. 8 A doubleminded man is unstable in all his ways. In Greek, the word double minded literally means two souled -- pulled apart in different directions, divided loyalties, divided priorities. Youre not really sure what you want. Sometimes youve got to make a decision. Double-mindedness is devastating, because it makes you unstable. The word is translated confused in many parts of the Bible. Its used to describe a drunk whos staggering, reeling, unstable in all his ways. Hes saying, If you cant make up your mind it produces an unstable lifestyle. All your ways will be unstable. Constant turmoil. Three ways indecision makes you unstable: 1. Unstable emotions. Its a stain when you cant decide. You worry and strain, youre confused. You cant sleep and cant eat. You wonder, Did I do the right thing? It creates emotional instability in your life when you cant make up your mind. Guy goes to a psychiatrist. The psychiatrist says, Are you indecisive? Guy says, Yes and no. What do you mean by that? I used to be but now Im not sure. William James said, The most miserable person in the world is the person who is habitually indecisive. It causes unstable emotions. 2. Unstable relationships. When you cant decide, Do I want in or do I want out? I cant get on with it, I cant get out of it, I cant get with it? What am I going to do? Instability in relationships. When youre unstable on the job and switching back and forth between careers. When youre a parent and say one thing then you say another thing. We give double messages to our kids. It causes instability. You cant decide in a relationship. Am I going to get out of it or am I going to get on with it? Ive discovered many times it takes more energy deciding than it does to do it. Once you do it, its a snap, but the key is deciding. 3. Unstable spiritual life. V. 7 That man will not think that hell receive anything from the Lord. It blocks your prayers. Indecision causes God from giving you and keeps you from receiving what God has to offer. Some of you say, Why doesnt God answer my prayers? Maybe youre not specific enough. Maybe youve never really decided what it is you want and you dont have a clear cut goal. We must pursue the Vision of God with single-minded devotion. II. When Your Dreamed Is Delayed Ask God For Help Ask God for wisdom to properly deal with the delays. If any of you lacks wisdom you should ask God who gives generously to all without finding fault and it will be given to him. Then he gives three practical steps. 1. Admit your need. v. 5 If any of you lacks wisdom... If any of you dont have it all together. We all need wisdom when dealing with delays. Wisdom is seeing life from Gods point of view. Wisdom is making decisions the way God would make decisions. -- Wisdom means practical application of knowledge. When you face delays you need the wisdom to properly apply the knowledge of Gods word to your situation. When you are facing a delay you dont need to act hastily or prematurely. This is why some Christians miss Gods Vision for their Lives. There is a delay in their flight so they just get on another plane flying to a different destination and end up in the wrong place. Some people miss the plane all together because they are to proud to admit they need help. They just walk around in Gods airport wandering from terminal to terminal because they want ask for help. When you ask for help you have to admit you have a need. 2. Ask. Ask for wisdom. Pray and ask God for wisdom. If any man lack wisdom he should ask God. Proverbs 2:6 It is the Lord who gives wisdom, from Him comes knowledge and understanding. If God came to you and said, What do you want in life more than anything else? If you could have one wish from God, what would you ask for? Would you ask for wisdom? He says, thats how important wisdom is. Proverbs says, If you dont get anything else, get wisdom. The reason we dont have wisdom is we dont ask. James 4:2 You have not because you ask not. Twenty times in the New Testament it says, Ask, and it shall be given. This word in the Greek literally says, keep on asking, be persistent, be continual. 3. Anticipate it. Expect an answer in faith. You anticipate an answer. When you pray, if any of you lacks wisdom he should ask of God who gives generously to all without finding fault and it will be given to him. But when he asks he must believe and not doubt. Circle not doubt. If you want wisdom -- first youve got to ask the right person. Then youve got to ask the right way -- in faith, believing, not doubting. The means the key to wisdom is prayer, the condition is faith. Have you ever prayed a prayer then later while talking to someone say, But I knew I wouldnt get it. You set yourself up! God says, If you cant believe youre going to get it, dont even waste the time praying. Pray in faith, believing, thanking God in advance. Doubt is debilitating. It hinders God from working in your life. He who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. Christians who have lost their vision are like corks in the ocean, blown around, back and forth. They are victims of their circumstance. Hebrews 11:6 And without faith it is impossible to please God. Anyone who comes to Him must believe [circle must believe] that He exists and He rewards those who earnestly seek Him. If you want to receive anything from God youve got to believe in advance youre going to get it. Thats faith. If you thank God after youve got it, thats not faith. Faith is thanking God in advance. III. When Your Dream Is Delayed Rely Upon The Promise Of God: GOD WILL GIVE IT! If any man lacks wisdom he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. God wants to give you wisdom. He is eager. Just like it pleased God when Solomon asked for wisdom, it pleases God when we come to Him and say, I havent the foggiest idea what Im supposed to do. ... Ask God. It is Gods nature to give. God is a giving God. Proverbs 3:5-7 5 Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. 6 In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. 7 Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the LORD, and depart from evil. Wisdom is applying the promise of Gods word to your problems and allowing God to to accomplish what He wants in your life through your trial. Look how God says Hell give wisdom: 1. God Gives Continually. Ask God who gives... In the Greek that is in the continuous tense. He keeps on giving. He doesnt run out of energy. He never wears out. 2. God Gives Generously. His resources are unlimited. He has enough resources for everybody. Hes got plenty. 3. God Gives Without Insulting You. God gives help without insulting you, rebuking you or making fun of you. When God helps you He doesnt do so in way to make you feel helpless or hopeless.
Posted on: Thu, 23 Jan 2014 03:52:06 +0000
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