“Joseph had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers, they hated him all the more. He said to them, “Listen to this dream I had: We were binding sheaves of grain out in the field when suddenly my sheaf rose and stood upright, while your sheaves gathered around mine and bowed down to it.”
His brothers said to him, “Do you intend to reign over us? Will you actually rule us?” And they hated him all the more because of his dream and what he had said.”
Genesis 37: 5-8
Joseph knew Rejection with a capital “R”.
Why?
Because he had a dream from God and made the mistake? of telling his brothers!
I know you may not want to hear this but rejection was not unique to Joseph.
We all face it.
We all fear it.
We all hate it.
We all experience it.
As a matter of fact rejection is not always just the result of some mean person out to hurt you.
Sometimes its’ Gods’ purposes in your life that cause rejection.
Joseph’s brothers, we are told, hated him all the more because of his dream.
Josephs dream was not from a bad meal the night before.
His dream was from God.
If you know the story of Joseph then you know his dream was fulfilled.
It took many years but, nonetheless, the dream he received from God came to pass.
But, between the dream and its fulfillment there was a whole lot of rejection Joseph had to deal with.
Who knows how different the story might have been if Joseph had not dealt properly with rejection.
He faced it from his brothers.
He faced it at Potiphars’ house.
He faced it in the prison.
But most importantly, he didn’t allow that rejection to form him into a bitter, resentful, retaliatory and vengeful old man.
Instead he allowed it to be used by God to shape him into a vessel fit for Gods’ purposes. How have you handled rejection in the past?
Let’s look together this week at how it should be handled.
If your past handling of rejection is less than honorable, we can learn how to surrender it to God for His use and His purposes.
Are you ready?
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