Joseph The Dreamer
[By Matthew Russom]
God mercifully gives us talents so that we can do his bidding and strengthen the church in its various ways. These gifts that the Lord gives us are special, as they are special to us and a part of God’s will, as referenced in Ephesians 2:10 “For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do” (NKJV). There are countless examples of Biblical people using the talents God gave them to be a part of God’s will. From these examples, we can learn how to use and maybe what to expect when we use these talents for God.
Joseph was given a unique talent from God. Joseph was able to interpret dreams, with the help of God. Joseph first interprets his dream involving the elven bundles of grain that bow down to him (Genesis 37:6-7). He then dreamed again about eleven stars, plus the sun and moon, bowing down to him (Gen 37:9). The interpretations of the dreams were that his older brothers and parents would be bowing down to him. His brothers did not receive his dreams well as “they hated him” for claiming that they would submit to him (37:8). The dreams that he received from God were messages of God’s will and his plan for Joseph. Not saying what the dreams were would have been keeping God’s plan a secret, which is something that modern day Christians have been commanded to not do (Acts 18:9). Joseph knew that his dreams would not be received well, but he couldn’t let God’s message go unheard. Joseph does face earthly consequences for speaking about God’s message like we might (probably not to Joseph’s extreme), but we cannot be quiet about the Lord’s Word and his will.
Another thing we can learn about how Joseph uses the talent God gave him is how he points to God when he interprets these dreams. In the case where Joseph interprets Pharaoh’s dream, he does not try to use his unique ability for personal gain. A man who has been in prison for two full years finally gets a chance to make an impression on Pharaoh, he declares that it is God’s power, not his. “I cannot do it” Joseph replied to Pharaoh, “but God will give Pharaoh the answer he desires” (Gen. 41:16, NKJV). We can sometimes become prideful with the talents that God has given us, but we must remember that we are doing the Lord’s work, and glory needs to be given to him.
The talents that are given to us by God are sacred and we will be condemned if we don’t use them, as described in the parable of the talents. We must us the talents that are given to glorify God, not glorify ourselves. “Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms” (1 Peter 4:10, NKJV).