God-Given Dreams and Visions

“And it shall come to pass afterward
That I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh;
Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
Your old men shall dream dreams,
Your young men shall see visions."   Joel 2:28

I've been thinking on these verses the last few days. Thinking on the fact that God gives us dreams and visions in the first place- because then what do we do with them?  We think on these dreams and visions and we sometimes look at them as if they are unattainable.  And at face-value, perhaps they are. Think about someone who has been given a dream to begin a ministry, but all they can see is the financial aspects- and it appears to be such an impossibility.

But you know what I've been thinking about these dreams and visions?  That God wouldn't give them to us if He didn't have a plan to get us there.  God knows absolutely every step that must be taken to attain that dream.  He's a loving and good-natured God, he's not going to give His children impossible dreams with no chance of reaching them.

Just think about that for a minute.  Think about the potential for a God given idea!  Oh, make no mistake, the devil will certainly try to rob you of that dream, but golly, God wins every time. Every. Single. Time.  Why, just this past weekend I had one of those such moments.  Abigail was singled out and given a word from God that filled this mama's heart with such pride and joy.  But I'll tell you, not ten minutes later I found myself questioning what she was told.  Questioning as in, maybe the speaker had Abigail mixed up with the boy next to her.  What if he was meant to receive that word, and she got it by mistake?  That quickly, the devil tried to swoop in and rob my daughter of this precious gift.  And I have no doubt that as time passes, that there will be other obstacles thrown up, but as children of God, we are totally over comers, and the dream will become a reality.

Perhaps someone has been called to medical school to become a doctor.  God has given this dream, and if that person were me, I would do my hardest to trust that God would provide to meet the needs.  He will meet the financial needs for all that medical school.  He will meet my physical needs to be able to study hard and stay healthy.  He would meet my needs as far as getting into the right medical schools, and so on.  

God always knows!  He gave those dreams in the first place, so it stands to reason that He will help guide the steps to make those dreams realities.

God is good, all the time.  He never wavers, and His dreams for us are absolute perfection- if only we will allow Him to do the work in us that will get us to where He wants us to be.  Think on Joseph.  

"Now Joseph had a dream, and he told it to his brothers; and they hated him even more. ⁶ So he said to them, “Please hear this dream which I have dreamed: ⁷ There we were, binding sheaves in the field. Then behold, my sheaf arose and also stood upright; and indeed your sheaves stood all around and bowed down to my sheaf.”  Genesis 37:5-7

Joseph had that dream as a child- a mere teenager, perhaps, and it wasn't until years and years later that the dream came to fruition.  There may have been difficulties and troubles and hindrances along the way, but God would see that dream fulfilled- and for good reason.  God had a purpose for that dream, and God had a great purpose for Joseph.   He used Joseph to save an entire nation- His beloved people of Israel.  What might your dreams do? What plans does God have for that dream He gave you.  Take heart, and know that God does not give a dream without the plan to fulfill that dream.  

"Then Joseph said to his brothers, “I am Joseph; does my father still live?” But his brothers could not answer him, for they were dismayed in his presence. ⁴ And Joseph said to his brothers, “Please come near to me.” So they came near. Then he said: “I am Joseph your brother, whom you sold into Egypt. ⁵ But now, do not therefore be grieved or angry with yourselves because you sold me here; for God sent me before you to preserve life. ⁶ For these two years the famine has been in the land, and there are still five years in which there will be neither plowing nor harvesting. ⁷ And God sent me before you to preserve a posterity for you in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance. ⁸ So now it was not you who sent me here, but God; and He has made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt."  Genesis 45:3-8