The fall of the dreamer
One night Joseph had a dream, and when he told his brothers about it, they hated him even more. He said “Listen to the dream I had. We were all in the field tying up sheaves of wheat, when my sheaf got up and stood up straight. Yours formed a circle round mine and bowed down to it”. “Do you think you are going to be a king and rule over us?” his brothers asked. So they hated him even more because of his dreams and because of what he said about them… They saw him in the distance, and before he reached them, they plotted against him and decided to kill him. They said to one another, “Here comes that dreamer. Come on now, let’s kill him and throw his body into one of the dry wells. We can say that a wild animal killed him. Then we will see what becomes of his dreams”. Genesis 37 : 5 - 9 and 18 - 20 (GNB) |
In this passage we encounter the renowned dreamer Joseph, while still a teenager and living with his brothers. Joseph was his dad's favourite and his brothers hated him for it.
What makes the relationship between Joseph and his brothers worse is that he repeatedly tells them about his dreams. Fair enough you might think, but many of Josephs dreams involved him being the centre of attention and everyone else (his brothers included) bowing down to him. As you can imagine, his brothers did not take too kindly to Joseph repeatedly telling them that they bowed down and worshiped him in his dreams.
As we see later on in this passage his brothers were sick of Josephs ongoing bragging. They were so annoyed with his fantasies that they started plotting to get rid of him. If you read on you will discover that ultimately they trap him and sell him off as a slave. Which I think you would agree seems a bit harsh, even for someone who does get on your nerves.
This passage reminds us that our dreams may not always be as warmly received by others as we might hope. When we choose to share our dreams with someone, we should be sensitive to their feelings. As Joseph found out to his cost blindly sharing every dream without thinking can soon lead to annoyance, upset and anger. Being aware of what we are saying and how this will be perceived will help us from falling into the same difficulties that Joseph did.
Make the most of the dreams God gives you and share them wisely with the people you meet this week. Be sensitive to their point of view. Take time to reflect if people dont quite react in the way that you hoped. Have a great week.
This weeks song is Me without you by Toby Mac. It is a upbeat tune with catchy lyrics. |
Header image by: Tambako The Jaguar via Flickr