Faith Life Community Blog

“And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and took bread, and a bottle of water, and gave it unto Hagar, putting it on her shoulder, and the child, and sent her away: and she departed, and wandered in the wilderness of Beersheba. And the water was spent in the bottle, and she cast the child under one of the shrubs.  And she went, and sat her down over against him a good way off, as it were a bowshot: for she said, Let me not see the death of the child. And she sat over against him, and lift up her voice, and wept (Genesis 21:14-16)”

“Then Joseph could not refrain himself before all them that stood by him; and he cried, Cause every man to go out from me. And there stood no man with him, while Joseph made himself known unto his brethren. And he wept aloud: and the Egyptians and the house of Pharaoh heard (Genesis 45:1-2).”

One of the most profound ability given to man by God is the ability to dream. In Joel 2:28, God says He will pour out His Spirit upon all flesh in the last days and enables us to have dreams. A dream is a mental picture of what is to be in the future. In Genesis 37, God showed Joseph two dreams in connection with what he has planned for him. Your dream is what separates you from the crowd and makes you a unique individual. It charts the course to which your life follows. A dream brings focus to your life and eliminate unnecessary distractions. Infact, everything you would ever be in life would first be released as a “dream seed” in your heart which would need to be cultivated and nurtured to its fulfilment. The journey of a thousand miles often begins in the mind.

However, as wonderful as dreams are, they are like promisory notes of what you could be in the future. They often hide or conceal the process that would eventually lead you to the promises. Many people would jump at the promise of a great future but when confronted with the process that leads to the realization of the promises, they probably would give up on their dreams. Friend, God has sent me specifically today to encourage you in connection to the dreams He has put in your heart. I want to share with you the experiences of two well known Bible characters – Hagar and Joseph, who both have big dreams but have to cry and weep in the process of actualizing their dreams. But, there are differences in their cry. First, while Hagar’s cry was that of despair, fear and hopelessness, Joseph’s cry is a cry of joy and dream fulfilled. Second, while Hagar’s cry was private where no one but God sees, Joseph’s kind of cry was not, it was in the public eye of all around him, everyone in the house heard him.

HAGAR CRIED!

In Genesis 21:9-20, the Bible records an interesting story of the struggles often associated with actualizing dreams in life with the story of Hagar, the handmaid of Abraham and Sarah. She came to Abraham’s house looking for job as housemaid but suddenly was asked to assist her boss in having a baby. That incident gave her a lifetime opportunity of becoming the wife of the rich and blessed father Abraham. But shortly after, Sarah also conceived and gave birth to Isaac, and Hagar was thrown out of the house with her kids out of jealousy. All she had left with was her only baby, Ismael (with the seed of greatness in him) a loaf of bread and a keg of water. She was faced with an uncertain future. Can you imagine someone who is used to the luxurious life in house of Abraham now in lack. Not long after she was chased out of the house of Abraham, she came to the wilderness and her meagre resources run dry: no more water and food. And as you may imagine, all she could see looming was death for her and the baby. So Hagar weeps!

* Hagar weeps, because her dream of a better life in a foreign country where she had gone to seek employment had suddenly turned into a nightmare and she is returning back home with nothing to show;

* Hagar weeps, because her dream as a woman that the man who broke her virginity would eventually be her husband has been shattered. She has just went through a divorce with no parting gift from her ex-husband than a keg of water and a loaf of bread;

* Hagar weeps because, like every woman, she had dreamt of a great future for her child in the house of her husband, Abraham. She dreamt of sending her kid to the best of schools in the world,  but, suddenly, woke up to see these dreams falling flat to her face;

* And I guess, Hagar weeps because someone who is used to a wealthy lifestyle with access to the financial resources of Abraham is now dying in poverty with her child.

The worst part of Hagar’s cry was that she was weeping alone in the wilderness with her kids. Nobody sees their cry. No friend, uncle, aunty, brother or sister is there to help. No one can relate to her pain and struggles. She had to cope with the grueling emotion of experience of a shattered dream, wounded heart and broken joy as she walked out of the door of Abraham. She was left alone in the cold of the night with no resources and energy to actualize her dreams. But here comes the good news: Right in the midst of her loneliness and tears, God spoke to her and said, “I have heard the cry of the baby where he is. Arise, lift up the lad in thine hand for I will make him a great nation (Gen 21:17-18)”. God sent her a well of water right in the desert (See: Isaiah 43:19). What a wonderful God? Bringing great-ness coming out of a great-mess!

Friend, have you also found yourself in middle of your dreams and looks like things are going contrary to your expectations? Does it seem like your dreams for yourself, family, and children are falling flat for lack of resources to bring them to pass? Have you been crying and shedding tears privately like Hagar and wondering if anyone really care to notice your tears?  God has sent me to assure you today that He saw it and he heard your cry wherever you are and in whatever situation you are in. Hold on…help is right on the way for you! You will soon have a different story and a different cry.

and, JOSEPH CRIED!

Genesis 45:1-5 recorded yet another cry in connection with actualizing a God-given dreams in life. This time, it was the cry of the well known brother Joseph – the dreamer. Joseph’s cry was a different cry from that of Hagar. Joseph’s cry was that of joy of seeing his dreams coming to pass against all oppositions and odds. You will remember that, for his dreams, he had been to the pit, he was lied upon, he went to prison, but God’s presence with him saw him through those challenges and God eventually brought him to the palace. So, when he came face-to-face with his brothers who eventually bowed down for him in fulfilment of all the dreams he had in the past, he could not but burst into tears for joy.

Friend, the same experience of Joseph is coming your way today. If you will not stop believing and trusting God for the fulfilment of your dreams, I see you having a different cry of joy. No matter what the situation looks like, do not give up hope. God will re-arrange all things that seems to be in disarray right now to work in your favour (See Rom 8:28). I prophecy into every of your God-given dreams that are dying in the wilderness of life, I speak God’s word that they come back alive. I pray for every dream in connection with your job, your family, your kids, your health, your finances, your career, your business, your relationship, and your spiritual life, they will come to pass.  May the resources and provisions of heaven come your way today and may you come out of whatever mess you may be facing with a testimony of greatness and God’s faithfulness.

Be blessed!

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FAITH FOR DAILY LIVING is a Total Life Empowerment bulletin published by FAITH LIFE COMMUNITY. It is specially designed to teach believers how to live a daily life of victory and  attain excellence in all areas of life – spiritual, family, finance, career, business, and job.

The mandate of FAITH LIFE COMMUNITY is to fill the earth with the knowledge of the glory of God (Habakkuk 2:14). We aim to bring together a community of people that understood who they are in Christ and impact their community for the Kingdom of God. We teach and inform people  how to receive the life of God and manifest the glory of God in all the earth.

For further details,  check: www.faithlifecommunity.org or email: feedback@faithlifecommunity.org

This article is culled from the series: UNLOCKING YOUR PERSONAL GREATNESS.  You can contribute to any of our articles by posting a comment on the website blog www.faithlifecommunity.org/blog. You can also join us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter: www.twitter.com/faith_life

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If you do not know JESUS as your SAVIOUR and LORD, some of the information given in this article may not apply to you. To accept JESUS as your LORD and SAVIOUR, simply pray the following prayer in faith:

Heavenly Father, I come to You in the Name of Jesus. Your Word says, “Whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved” and “If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved” (Acts 2:21; Romans 10:9). You said my salvation would be the result of Your Holy Spirit giving me new birth by coming to live in me (John 3:5-6, 15-16; Romans 8:9-11) and that if I would ask, You would fill me with Your Spirit and give me the ability to speak with other tongues (Luke 11:13; Acts 2:4). I take You at Your Word. I confess that Jesus is Lord. And I believe in my heart that You raised Him from the dead. Thank You for coming into my heart, for giving me Your Holy Spirit as You have promised, and for being Lord over my life. Amen.

If you have just prayed this prayer, please contact us and let us know of your decision. We have a free Salvation Package we would like to send you to help you begin your new life in Jesus! Send an email to: feedback@faithlifecommunity.org

This entry was posted on Wednesday, September 29th, 2010 at 4:06 pm and is filed under Finance, Greatness. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.