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Tuesday, February 4, 2014

Do Dreams Really Come True?

I've been thinking about this for a while now. My favorite Bible story is the one about Joseph. Joseph grew up with people who didn't appreciate him, and most times resented him. He and his father, Jacob, were very close, and it's safe to say that Jacob played favorites with him. Joseph and his brother Benjamin were the only children from Jacob's favorite wife, Rachel. While I don't advocate playing favorites, the fact that Jacob did is central to the story. See, Joseph started having dreams. These dreams basically told him that he was going to be very powerful one day, and that his family was going to bow down to him. His brothers didn't like THAT very much. Here Joseph is already their father's favorite, and now he's saying they're going to BOW to him? WOW someone seriously has some ego issues, right? I'm not sure he did. Joseph wasn't telling his brothers to brag. I sincerely believe he was just weirded out by the dreams, and wanted someone to talk to. Whether he was bragging is totally up for debate, because the Bible doesn't actually say for sure.

I think a lot of the point of the story of Joseph is to teach us that God can use ANYTHING, no matter the situation, for His glory. Without telling his brothers his dreams, how can we be sure Joseph's brothers would have been mad enough at him to try to kill him, then sell him as a slave? Without being sold into slavery, would Joseph still have met Potiphar? Without turning down Potiphar's wife, would Joseph still have been put in prison?  He then wouldn't have had the chance to interpret dreams for two men who would later have the opportunity to save Joseph's life, and put him in a position to save his family from a famine. So many "circumstances," and yet they all worked together for God to do something wonderful. Who's to say God can't do the same for us? I have had so many bad things happen to me in recent years, but whether God actually caused them to happen, or they were the product of my own free will, God has been able to use my broken heart to draw me closer to Him, and draw me closer to the person HE wants me to be. God always has my best interests at heart, and even though sometimes I get in the way, every once in a while I can step out of the way, and watch God work in a way I haven't seen before.

Dreams really can come true, but it's important to make sure they are the right dreams. Allow God to work through you, and allow him to bring to fruition the dreams He wants for your life. You will be glad you did.

Tuesday, January 14, 2014

I Didn't Do Anything Wrong!

That's usually the response I give myself when something in my life goes wrong. Obviously it couldn't be my fault! Had to be fate, right? Sometimes coincidences in our lives are the product of unconscious decisions we make, and mistakes we don't even realize we're making. That's why the Bible tells us to "take every thought under control." when we consciously take control of these thoughts and actions, then our "mistakes" don't tend to run our lives, because we know exactly where things went wrong, and we can fix it for next time.

Usually, in my life, where I go wrong is demanding to keep control over my life and my decisions. I have a hard time trusting people, and especially, God. I keep forgetting that he is the Almighty, and actually KNOWS what He's doing! That's CRAZINESS! An almighty, all-knowing, all-powerful entity knowing about MY LIFE?! wow!

The bible has always been very specific about God's knowing about us. It even states that He knew about my entire life before I was born. I do have free will, and the freedom to make choices, but that doesn't mean that He didn't know exactly what choice I was going to make long, long ago, but also had a way out in case it was a bad decision. My failings have come when I didn't listen to that still small voice, and decided I knew better than God did. Then I get mad at myself, and decide that God must not really love me because I made all these mistakes. This is NOT true! God IS love, so no matter what I do, and no matter where I fail, HE WILL ALWAYS LOVE ME!! Nothing can separate me from this love. All I have to do is decide, sometimes on a daily basis, to choose to accept this wonderful gift of God's unending, eternal, perfect love.