Your dream will surely come to pass

Habakkuk 2:3, “For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak, and not lie: though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry.”

Joseph had a dream which he related to his brothers; they hated him and conspired to kill him. “Come now therefore, and let us slay him, and cast him into some pit, and we will say, ‘Some evil beast hath devoured him’: and we shall see what will become of his dreams.” Genesis 37: 20. Their target was his dream. They were saying it would never happen. They were trying to stop his future. Herod tried to stop the future of Jesus. Pharaoh attempted to stop the destiny of Moses. Satan may have used certain people to try to stop your future. He may have also used circumstances. The attack in your present is aimed at stopping your future. But I came with good news; no one can stop you from becoming what you are destined to be.

Lessons from the life of Joseph

1. Every great man was once a ‘nobody’ prepared for opportunity. David was a mere shepherd boy. Roosevelt suffered polio and was paralysed in one leg but he overcame his adversity and became one of America’s presidents. Bill Gates was once a high school drop out. Today he is a billionaire. Your present position is not permanent. This is not the end of your story. Where you are now is not even a true reflection of what you can be.
2. Never measure yourself by what is around you but what is in you. What is around you is not as important as what is in you. The Bible says, “Greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world.” You might be sitting by a future billionaire, president, industrialist, etc. right now. A future internationally acclaimed leader may be watching this programme right now. Keep dreaming! Guard your heart! Remember, it is only what is in you that can change what is around you. Feed your mind with hope and get inspired. Focus on where you are going and what you are trying to achieve. Focus on the plan of God for your life. Focus on the God in you rather than the problem around you. The Greater One on the inside of you can change the circumstances around you!
3. Great dreams attract great envy. Great success will attract great persecution. Not everyone will celebrate you. People who envy you believe you are better or that you are going to be better. What I am saying is that those who are jealous of you believe in your future. Why don’t you believe it yourself? If they could not prevent you from being born, they cannot prevent you from becoming great. People will attack you and persecute but that must not stop you. What people say about you is not as important as what God said about you. God does not need the permission of anyone to fulfil your destiny. Be wise in communicating your dream. Never listen to everything said about you.
4. Joseph failed but he learnt from his mistake and moved forward. Your valley must not become your grave. The fear of failure must not prevent you from making the next move. We all, like Joseph, begin ignorant but we must not remain ignorant. That you cannot move a mountain now does not mean you will never be able to move it. Remember this: Your mountain cannot grow but you can! As long as you keep growing, one day what looks like a mountain now will look like a mole hill. Fifty thousand naira may look big now but if you keep growing soon it will be like pocket change.
5. Use your adversity to develop your capacity. Every raw material contains the finished product but it takes processing to bring it out. There is a whole chicken in the egg. Touch your neighbour and say I am a complete package.

Processing takes pain and discomfort. Job said, “When He has tried me, I shall come forth as gold.” Job 23:10

Two things are important in the development of the eaglet:

1) The right amount of heat

2) The storm.

The right amount of heat makes the egg to hatch. God knows the right amount of heat required to bring out the best in you. God did not permit the heat to destroy you but to hatch something bigger than you think, something that can fly. The heat brought God into the furnace where Shadrack, Meshack and Abednego were. The heat drove Hannah into a desperate prayer that resulted in the birth of Samuel.

If you will trust God, that heat will lead to your promotion and breakthrough. Your affliction was not designed to make you bitter but better. Comfort has a way of making us complacent. It is said that when the eagle wants to teach its chicks how to fly, it starts to tear the nest. As the young bird begins to fall, the mother flies right under it with wings open and catches the chick. But the young eaglet learns something. It observes the mother spread out its wings. Its mother takes it up the nest and pushes it out until in desperation, it spreads out the wing and begins to fly like the mother.

Eagles were meant to fly not snuggle up in the nest all their lives. I learnt to fly through the storms of my life. Now I can ride the storm. Every problem reveals your strength or weakness. It shows where you need to build. Problems and difficulties force you to grow.

When life hands you lemons make lemonade. When life hands you a storm, ride on it like the eagle. When life hands you heat, cook, bake or hatch something with it.

Suicide is not an option. Suicide is a permanent solution to a temporary problem.

6. Where you are going is more important than where you are coming from. Joseph forgot his past in order to gain his future. He forgave his brothers and released himself to pursue his dream. He saw the hand of God in his destiny. He said, “You meant it for evil but God meant it for good.” Genesis 43:26; 45:3 – 8; Genesis 50:18 – 21
7. Those who persecute you will never go free because “it is a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation to all them that trouble you.”
8. Those who tried to stop your progress will one day congratulate you.
9. Who is with you is more important than who is against you. Genesis 39:2, 21& 23 says “the Lord was with Joseph.” If God be for us who can be against us? God is bigger than your enemies. He will not let you fall or fail. You are God’s project: He will not abandon you. He told Jacob, “I will not leave you until I finish My plan.”

I’m glad to let you know that what they said did not come to pass. They said it will never happen but God made it happen. Your dream will become reality. Hold on a little while, you will be crowned as God said. In due time, your dream will become reality.

Bishop Dr. Charles Olowojoba is the General Overseer of Dayspring Bible Church Worldwide with HQ in Abuja, Nigeria & President, Dayspring Christian Ministries Int’l.