Our Dreams Will Not Always Be Supported by Others

In our previous post (the start of this series of lessons to learn from the life of Joseph), we looked at an overview of Joseph’s life story. We also discussed how troubles are challenges that can lead the faithful to unexpected success. Today, we we see how this path is not easy, though, and one of the biggest challenges you'll face in life is self-belief, because we do not always get support from those around us, including even close family and friends.

YOUR DREAM MAY BE THE ONLY THING THAT KEEPS YOU GOING
Our dreams have incredible powers. They can encourage us in the darkest moments of our lives when there is no light or hope left. They are also sometimes all that we have left, and while they may not make complete sense to us, they can keep us motivated despite the negativity people around us show (in their defense, their discouragement may only be a result of failures they have seen in the past). Joseph’s brothers, however, criticized his dream based on envy.

"Joseph had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers, they hated him all the more."
– Genesis 37:05

GOD FORESAW JOSEPH’S GREATNESS
The dream that Joseph had was not something he created himself; it was shown to him as a premonition of the greatness he would achieve in life and how his brothers would become grateful to him in the end. God sees US beyond the here and now, too! He sees things we are capable of, and enables us to achieve them if we are willing to take the right path. It is through believing in God (and in what He has granted us) that we are able to build upon our dreams and construct tangible outcomes. All through the various challenges Joseph came across in life, we clearly see that his faith in God never wavered, but there is something more to the idea of believing in God – it is having faith in yourself and your own God-given abilities as well. It is about believing in your ability to choose goodness and make wise decisions, instead of playing a victim of circumstances. Joseph had a lot of instances where he could blame others for all the unfairness he went through, but he never became a victim. Instead, he kept believing in God by believing in himself.

BELIEVE IN YOUR DREAM
The story of Joseph’s dream teaches us that God is truly all-knowing. We may not understand His ways but He leads us to the right path as long as we are willing to take the challenge. The story also teaches us that we may not always have the support of those around us who we trust. Sometimes it becomes hard to fight the battle, but we must go on. Even if we face resistance, we must keep believing in our dream and keep working toward achieving it. This is why Joseph is one of the best examples of leaders from our past. After all, what he did is what true leaders do: to find a way, even when it seems impossible.