STAGES OF OUR DREAMS

THE VARIOUS STAGES OUR DREAMS GOES THROUGH BEFORE BECOMING REALITY


      In pursuit of our Dream life, we must have a clear understanding of the times and seasons that await us.
In this episode, we will focus on the eleven(11) stages every dreamer goes through . It is based on the Story of Joseph, a young Hebrew dreamer, as recorded in the book of Genesis.
The key periods of his life show a blueprint of a Dreamer's journey to significance.
The success of every dreamer depends on how he or she manages these stages. My aim in this episode is to provide a survival toolkit for every dreamer.

 1.The Household stage:
The people you trust will be the first to throw trash at your dream. Families sometimes support but most times suppress the dreamer, so do not be surprised if the first reaction from family to your dream is negative. Your case as a dreamer is not different from the case of Joseph in the Bible, whose father rebuked him because he dared to dream and his brothers hated him because his dream was too big.
 Genesis 37:9-10.
The family hurdle is the most difficult to clear but it is even more difficult if you focus on them instead of on your dream. The best way to clear this hurdle is to believe in JESUS, believe in yourself and believe in your dream.

A belief in yourself is called CONFIDENCE. You need confidence to confront the household challenge. A belief in your dream is called CONVICTION. You need conviction to stay focused. A belief in Jesus is called CONVERSION. Your faith in Christ can move any mountain. The first person who tried to discourage David when he enquire about the possibility of fighting Goliath was his oldest brother Eliab.

1 Sam 17:28-29
Dreamers usually tread where others dread. Families in their desperate attempt to protect dreamers from danger put unnecessary impediments in their way.
i. Conviction: A dream you don't believe in cannot survive the smallest test. Conviction determines commitment and your commitment is key to persuading doubters.
ii. Convincing: There are people in your family who deserves further and better explanations. Be patient and show decorum whiles you try to convince them. Leaders know who they owe an explanation and do so expertly.
iii. Communication: The way you package and communicate a dream will determine how the hearers react to it. Choose who, when, how and where you communicate your dream. Leaders are brand masters - they persuade through the glamorization of their dream.
iv. Circumspection: Be careful who you trust with your dream. There are a lot of dream killers in our families. Leaders can sense dream assassins.
v. Combat: You must fight to keep your dream alive. Dreamers are fighters. They fight for their dreams and they conquer every foe to achieve their dreams.

 2.The Hatred Stage:
 Genesis 37:5(NIV) says:
Now Joseph had a dream, and he told it to his brothers; and they hated him even more.

Your dream will attract both haters and helpers but expect the haters to be more than the helpers. They will hate you for trying to be different from them, they will hate you because your dream is going to make you better than them.
Don't hate them back; just keep loving your dream and yourself because love is better than hate. The best way to deal with haters is to avoid them.


3.The Hostility Stage: 
Joseph's dream described his potential and his potential posed a threat to his brothers. The natural response to threats by many people is aggression.

Genesis 37:18-20,23-24(NIV) says:
[18] But they saw him in the distance, and before he reached them, they plotted to kill him.
[19]"Here comes that dreamer!" they said to each other.
[20]"Come now, let's kill him and throw him into one of these cistern and say that a ferocious animal devoured him. Then we'll see what comes of his dreams.
[23] So when Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped him of his robe, the ornate robe he was wearing.
[24] and they took him and threw him into the cistern. The cistern was empty; there was no water in it. Be ready for unexpected battles. Your dream will not only attract haters but also diabolical people who will not only hatch a plan to cause your downfall but also a plan to, if possible, terminate your your life. Circumspection is key at this stage. Leaders know their friends, know their enemies and
know where the battle lines are drawn and choose their battles carefully.


4.The Hopping Stage:
Genesis 37 : 28 (NIV) Says ,
[28] So When the Midianite merchants came by, his brothers pulled Joseph up out of the cistern and sold him for twenty shekels of silver to the Ishmaelite's who took him to Egypt.

Genesis 37 : 36 (NIV) says:
[36] Meanwhile, the Midianites sold Joseph in Egypt to Potiphar, one of Pharaoh's officials, the captain of the guard.

Your dream is like a seed. It needs fertile grounds to grow. It will keep looking until it finds the most appropriate environment in which to grow. First, Joseph was bought by the Ishmaelites who also sold him to Potiphar who put him in Prison. Whiles going through these stages of his dream, Joseph was not despaired. Finally, he found the right soil to plant his seed(dream) in the palace. Leaders know that a dream is like a product - it will pass through a number of processes, most of them quite painful, but if you can be patient in your pain and go through the process, your dream will come through triumphantly.

 5.The Holiness Stage:
Genesis 39:6-8 NIV Says:
[6] So Potiphar left everything he had in Joseph's care; with Joseph in charge, he did not concern himself with anything except the food he ate. Now Joseph was well-built and handsome,
[7] and after a while his master's wife took notice of Joseph and said, "Come to bed with me!".
[8] But he refused. " With me in charge," he told her, "my master does not concern himself with anything in the house; everything he owns he has entrusted to my care.

While pursuing your dreams, your values will be dared. Easier alternatives at the expense of your values will be presented to you, especially when the journey looks longer than you anticipated and the road more rugged than you imagined. Leaders don't lower their values, especially their biblical values, because they know that Jesus is the sure way to their dreams.

 6.The Hustling Stage: 
Genesis 39:20 NIV Says.
[20] Joseph's master took him and put him in prison, the place where the king's prisoners were confined...

Every dreamer pays a meager price for a mega prize. When you focus on the price without seeing the prize, you can easily be discouraged. Joseph had to go to prison and this was the price he paid for not compromising on his values for the sake of his dreams. But the prison was a pathway to the palace. The palace became the prize for the price he paid. For leaders, price is meager, prize is mega. Your dreams may take you on unfamiliar and uncharted paths, but I encourage you to stay steady in the wilderness and keep moving because the highway is just ahead.

 7.The Helping Stage: 
Genesis 40:12-15(NIV) says
[12] "This is what it means", Joseph said to him. "The three branches are three days.
[13] Within three days Pharaoh will lift up your and restore you to your position, and you will put Pharaoh's cup in his hand, just as you used to do when you were his cup bearer.
[14] But when all goes well with you, remember me and show me kindness; mention me to Pharaoh and get me out of this prison.
[15] I was forcibly carried off from the land of the Hebrews, and even here I have done nothing to deserve being put in a dungeon.

" Imagine how discouraging it will be when you help people to realize their dreams and yet your dream looks shattered. Joseph was in prison for what he did not do and instead of getting bitter, he rather helped to better the lives of people by assisting them to make their dreams a reality.
It takes leadership to help others realize their dreams ahead of yours. If you can't celebrate and contribute to the success of other dreamers, your dream will remain a mirage. If you help people whilst in prison, then God can trust you with a palace.

 8.The Helper Stage: 
Genesis 41 : 9 - 14 NIV Says,
9: Then the Chief butler spoke to Pharaoh, saying, "I remember my faults this day".
10: When Pharaoh was angry with his servants, and put me in custody in the house of the captain of the guard, both me and the Chief baker,
11: We each had a dream in one night, he and I. Each of us dreamed according to the interpretation of his own dream.
12: Now there was a young Hebrew man with us there, a servant of the captain of the guard. And we told him, and he interpreted our dreams for us; to each man he interpreted according to his own dream.
13: And it came to pass, just as he interpreted for us, so it happened. He restored me to my office, and he hanged him."
14: Then Pharaoh sent and called Joseph, and they brought him quickly out of the dungeon; and he shaved, changed his clothing, and came to Pharaoh.

Everybody needs somebody to make his/her dream a reality. You cannot predict where you will meet that person. Joseph met the person who would recommend him to Pharaoh for his dream to come through in prison. Who would have thought that a fellow prisoner Joseph helped would become his helper?
 TRUE LEADERS NEVER DESPISE THE PEOPLE THEY MEET WHILE PURSUING THEIR DREAMS.

 9.The Happening Stage: 
Genesis 41:14 NIV says
[14] So Pharaoh sent for Joseph, and he was quickly brought from the dungeon. When he had shaved and changed his clothes, he came before Pharaoh.

At this stage, the sun is rising and the dawn is fading away. You are seeing better and hearing good news. You are beginning to meet your Pharaoh and taking steps in the corridors of power and influence.
Your dream is becoming a reality because God is connecting you to the right people and taking you to the right place.
Joseph had his beard shaved and his clothes changed before going to Pharaoh because for leaders, preparation must always precede opportunity.
The Happening stage is where God opens door of opportunities and cuts off the threats to your dream. Walk through these doors prepared and equipped. Leaders prepare ahead for anticipated opportunities.

Proverbs 3:8(NIV) says: ....
See, I have placed before you an open door that no one can shut....


 10.The Hurray Stage: 
 Genesis 41:41-44(NIV) Says;
[41] So Pharaoh said to Joseph, "I hereby put you in charge of the whole land of Egypt."
[42] Then Pharaoh took his signet ring from his finger and put it on Joseph's finger. He dressed him in robes of fine linen and put a gold chain around his neck.
[43] He had him ride in a Chariot as his second in command, and people shouted before him, "Make ways!" Thus, he put him in charge of the whole land of Egypt.
[44] Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, "I am Pharaoh, but without your word no one will lift hand or foot in all Egypt."

 Now you are happy and proud of your achievements and you know that God has not forsaken you. That business is now a reality, that Job is now yours.
 Now your dream is no longer an imagination, it is an invention. You can now feel it, you can touch it and you can see it.
Those who despised you are now celebrating you and those who said it was impossible are now regretting Leaders are achievers, they work hard to realize their dreams. You cannot be a leader without a trophy.

11.The Healing Stage:
11. Genesis 50:15-21
[15] When Joseph's brother saw that their father was dead, they said, "Perhaps Joseph will hate us, and may actually repay us for all the evil which we did to him."
[16] So they sent messengers to Joseph, saying, "Before your father died, he commanded, saying, [17] Thus you shall say to Joseph: " I beg you, please forgive the trespass of your brothers and their sin; for they did evil to you." Now, please, forgive the trespass of the servant of God of your father." And Joseph wept when they spoke to him
[18] Then his brother also went and fell down before his face, and they said, "Below, we are your servant."
[19] Joseph said to them, "Do not be afraid, for am I in the place of God?
[20] But as for you, you meant it evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive.
[21] Now therefore, do not be afraid; I will provide for you and your little ones." And he comforted them and spoke kindly to them. Joseph survived all the stages of his dream because he had a spiritual understanding of the difficult situations he was confronted with.

At every point he knew that the wicked intentions of men were God's own way of ordering his steps into the realization of his dreams.
Your capacity to discern the hand of God in the stages of your dream will determine how successful your dream becomes. He didn't take offense personal because he knew God used those who hurt him to push him to God's plan. Leaders don't hurt, they heal. The parable of the Good Samaritan comes to mind.

 Luke 10:30, 33-34(NIV) says:
[30] In reply Jesus said: " A man was going from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he was attacked by robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead...
[33] But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him.
[34] He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine A lot of people have been battered and wounded in the Journey of life and it is the responsibility of leaders to bring healing to such people.

They carry healing words to a hurting world.

A: Africa
N: Needs
Y: You

 Credit: Living you dream life by Bishop Titi-Ofei

God Bless You
SmileCosItsWell.