Hold Onto Your Dream

On 15 January 1929, the year the Great Depression started, a baby boy was born in Atlanta Georgia. Until the age of twelve, he and his family lived with his mother’s parents. As a child he was taught to read the Bible out loud and his grandmother told them stories from the Bible at bed time. This black boy befriended a white boy who was the son of a business owner across the street. Due to the segregation laws in America however, he was compelled to attend Yonge Street Elementary school, a school for black children. His favourite song was, “ I want to be more and more like Jesus.” His grandmother died when he was twelve years old, and he struggled to understand how God could call his grandmother home as part of His divine plan.

He was a brilliant scholar and average a B+ throughout his high school years at Washington High school. Here, he joined the school’s debate team. His oratory skills at the Pennsylvania Crozer Theological seminary elevated him to one of the “sons of the calvary.” He received his doctorate on 5 June 1955. Later, he also won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964.

At the age of 34, on August 28, 1963, at the Lincoln memorial, he delivered his speech which change the course of the American Civil Rights Movement. This is what he said:

                            “I have a dream that one day this nation shall rise up and live out

                            the true meaning of creed: We hold these truths to be self-evident:

                            that all men are created equal.”

His unrelenting pursuit of his dream, amidst many setbacks and in the face of much opposition, contributed to the enactment of the Civil Rights Act in 1968. This boy was Martin Luther King Jr.

Another 17-year-old boy, the eleventh son of a family of twelve children, also had a dream. His parents were herders, and due to his young age, he was not yet out in the field. His father’s parental favouritism of him, caused him to be the object of his brothers’ envy. His brothers even found it difficult to conversate with him in a peaceful manner.

He innocently shared his dreams with his brothers. He dreamt that they were all in the field binding the sheaves together and the sheaves of his brothers bowed before his. They mockingly called him “the dreamer.” This is of course the narrative of Joseph, Jacob’s son.

The last time Joseph took provisions to his brothers, was when they were in Dothan. The name Dothan דתינה, is derived from the root word דת, dat. This Hebrew word means fountain which was a precursor of the later unfolding story of Joseph’s life.  Dothan is mentioned one other time in the Bible, in the narrative of Elisha in 1 Kings 6. Elisha surrounded by the Armenian armies said to his servant, “Do not be afraid, those who are with us, are more than those who are with them. Dothan can therefore be associated with God fighting our battles and as recorded, Joseph’s.

Back in Dothan, Joseph’s brothers devised a wicked plan to get rid of him. They first threw him into the well, and later when a caravan of Ishmaelites from Gilead passed by, they sold him. From here, Joseph went from the palace to prison. Having been forgotten by his fellow inmate, God gave Pharoah a dream which no one could interpret, and Joseph was summoned to interpret the dream.

The familiar narrative described how Joseph was promoted to second in command in the land of Egypt, saved the nation from starvation, and how his brothers, just as he dreamt, bowed before him.

Another young man, exiled from his country, but devoted to serving the Lord, did not have an illustrious background either. He witnessed the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem in 586 BC, he saw the city in ruins, his faith caused him to be thrown in the lion’s den and he found himself before the powerful Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, when no one could interpret the king’s dream.

Daniel’s faith in God and his integrity caused him to find favour in a secular, idol worshipping world. He, like Joseph, was promoted to second in command of the then known world.

While in exile, in the first year of Belshazzar’s reign, Daniel had dreams and visions, which are recorded in the book of Daniel. His dreams described the historic future of how the world governments would unfold. He saw four beasts: the lion, the bear, the leopard, and a beast of “fierce countenance.” These beasts represented the Babylonian, the Medo- Persian, the Greek and Roman Empires. What the future holds is unknown, but through this vision, God revealed to Daniel the rulers of the world until the end of the age.

And then there is another Joseph. A young man on the threshold of his future, engaged to a lovely Jewish girl. Unfortunately, he discovered she was pregnant. In today’s day and age, this is still frowned upon, but two thousand years ago, this was punishable with death. Joseph resolved to divorce the girl. However, in a dream, the Lord appeared to him and calmed his emotional turmoil: “Be not afraid to take Mary as your wife.”

What was revealed to Joseph, was incomprehensible for a devout Jewish man. The child of His fiancée was conceived by the Holy Spirit. This took place about 34 years before the Holy Spirit was poured out on Pentecost. The Old Testament view of the Spirit of the Lord, which was Joseph’s view, is captured in narratives such as when the angel of the Lord appeared Gideon when he sat under the terebinth in Ophrah, the anointing of David as king, and when the Lord spoke to Ezekiel. Isolated incidences which could hardly explain the supernational conception of Jesus by the Holy Spirit.

But Joseph, based on his knowledge of the Word of God, however understood that the words of the angel of the Lord, who appeared to him, was prophesied by Isaiah, Isaiah 7:14. The words of Isaiah were repeated by the angel in Matthew 1:23, it reads: “ Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bare a son, and they shall call Him Emmanuel.” Joseph understood that the words of the angel of the Lord was a fulfilment of the Messiah whom Isaiah prophesied would come. So, Joseph took Mary as his wife and called their Son, Jesus.

Not only was the birth of Jesus revealed through a dream, but His second coming was revealed to John on the isle of Patmos. The vision that he saw, was so clear, and so detailed, that John, with pinpoint accuracy wrote to the seven churches of Asia Minor the words of Jesus. Jesus appeared to him and said, “Fear not, I am the first and the last, and the living one. I was dead, and behold I am alive forevermore.”

John described the unfolding of the end times in the visions of seven seals and the seven trumpets. His vision of the bowls revealed how wrath of God will be poured out an unrepenting world.

From the narratives above, dreams and visions were given to individuals like Joseph, who held onto his dreams, believing God, and became the second in command in the land of Egypt. Daniel, like Joseph, through his trust in God’s revelation, became second in command in Babylon. Through visions and dreams God revealed the future of mankind to Daniel and John. And most significantly, through a dream the Angel of the Lord revealed to Joseph the birth of Saviour of the world.

Therefore, hold onto your dream, keep doing good, and in due time, you will reap if you do not give up because Jesus said:

Behold, I am coming soon, bringing my recompense with me, to repay each one for what he has done, Revelation 22:12.