When Dreams Go Off the Fast Track

Transcript

Joseph was a teenager with grandiose dreams that annoyed everyone.

His brothers sold him to slave traders, and he ended up in a foreign country. When his boss’s wife propositioned him, he rejected her and was jailed. Eventually, he impressed the warden and was freed. He even rose to governor.

But that took 13 years. And again and again, through major setbacks, he could only trust God with his original dreams.

This is Howard Butt, Jr., of Laity Lodge. The disappointment and delay in Joseph’s life turned out to be preparation and timing. God sees more broadly than our yearly calendar. If your dream has been deferred, don’t consider it lost. Like Joseph, trust God—again and again. It’s the high calling of our daily work.

Hear us, O Shepherd of Israel,
you who lead Joseph like a flock;
you who sit enthroned between the cherubim, shine forth
before Ephraim, Benjamin and Manasseh.
Awaken your might;
come and save us.
(Ps. 80:1-2)

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(This message was inspired by a talk Jim Singleton delivered at Laity Lodge, August 2-5, 2007.)