The late great Langston Hughes once posed the question, “What happens to a dream deferred? Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun?” I often times find myself wondering that same question.
For like Martin Luther King Jr. and Hughes, many of us also have dreams. We have dreams of getting married, starting our own business, having a family, making a difference, getting a degree and so much more. And like Joseph, many of our dreams also come from God.
So then the question for us dreamers becomes, what happens when our dreams are delayed? Does a delay equal a denial? Does deferment mean defeat?
Life can become confusing when we feel God has promised us something or shown us a vision and we wait, and wait and perhaps even work and we still are not any closer to realizing our dream. What happens to a dream deferred? Well , I cannot tell you what happens to the dream itself while it is in deferment, but I can tell you what happens to the dreamer.
It is in God’s Word, specifically Genesis 37-45, where we can find some relief. These chapters of the Bible tell the story of a man named Joseph whose dreams of greatness, power and success were continually deferred. Joseph started out as the youngest of his father’s children and grew to be his father’s favorite as well. The story goes, that one day God gave Joseph two visions where he was ruling over his entire family and they were bowing down to him, parents included. So not only did Joseph have this dream once, he received confirmation of the first vision through a second one. In other words, God was sure about this.
Joseph, perhaps seeing nothing wrong with the dreams, shared them with his family and because of the anger, bitterness and envy that were in his brothers hearts they created a plan to eliminate him. Joseph already had the favor of his father, there was no way his brothers were going to let him have authority over them as well. After their first plan for killing him was vacated, they ultimately decided to sell him as a slave to a traveling group of traders who were headed to Egypt. This was after they initially threw him into a deep pit to leave him there and rot. At this point, I think it would be safe to say Joseph’s dream had been deferred. He had been betrayed by his own flesh and blood and was now being sold into slavery. His dream said ruler but his circumstances said slave.
During the course of Joseph’s time in Egypt he had become a servant to an important high-ranking official. While in this position he had been betrayed yet again but this time by his lying mater’s wife and was thrown into prison. Joseph went from favored son, to helpless in a hole, to slave, to servant, to prisoner. None of those things lined up with his dream.
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Yet and still through it all, Joseph remained faithful to God. Where most of us would have given up, lost faith or turned our backs on God; Joseph saw it as an opportunity to bring people to God. Through the pitfalls, lies and jail cells Joseph’s trust in the Lord, the giver of his dream, never wavered. And because his loyalty to God remained steadfast, God showed Joseph favor through each obstacle and every opposition he was faced with. God was with Joseph through every delay that came his way. And with God, Joseph was able to eventually earn an audience with the Pharaoh and consequently help him with a problem that nobody else in the entire land could. And because the Pharaoh could see that God was with Joseph, he made him the highest ranking official in the land, second only to Pharaoh himself.
Though it was obvious that for years, Joseph’s dream was being deferred he did not let that discourage him. Instead Joseph trusted in the God that gave him the vision, that if God gave it to him, it would surely one day come to pass. Joseph did not worry about time, all that concerned Joseph was trust. And it was through Joseph’s trust that God was able to work every single struggle for Joseph’s success and in the end the Joseph was granted access to that which God had promised.
It was never a matter of “if” the dream would come to pass, as long as Joseph trusted in God, it was only a matter of WHEN!
I like to think of it like an airplane. When we purchase our ticket we know we’re going somewhere, and then the airline sends us a confirmation to ensure our travel plans are set. But when we get to the airport we may experience some delays. The delays may last for a few minutes, a few hours or maybe even a few days depending on the circumstance. But one thing is for sure, because we have that ticket and we have received confirmation, no matter how long we have to wait, we know we are going somewhere! We know that one day we are going to arrive at our destination!
Take comfort in your season of waiting and use it as an opportunity to trust in God!
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