God’s Word planted in our hearts has a very similar impact in our lives as the dream God planted in Joseph’s heart—it will direct and order our lives. The Word of God not only contains the plan for our future, but also the power to move us into the dream He has given us.
God releases His plans and His power within us through His Word. Every Word from God has enough power residing within it to fulfill itself. But there is a battle from the unseen forces of the kingdom of darkness to prevent God’s plans from coming to pass in our lives. The battle to see God’s promise destroyed or fulfilled begins the moment we receive His Word.
We typically expect the world’s point of view to be the main opposition to godly dreams. The world always has been and will continue to be hostile toward God. But the real danger comes from those who continue to have a form of godliness but have lost their inner fire. Those who once walked with God but have now taken on the spirit of the world are the most dangerous to us.
Timothy’s account of perilous times is the description of a society that is barren of virtue and abounding in vices—Christians who have grown cold and become unloving, unforgiving, unthankful, and unspiritual. These are the real troublemakers of Christian life. They are those who have compromised their commitment to God but keep up the appearances when in our presence.
How do we steer clear of the dream slayers? As believers, it is vital to develop ourselves in dealing with the people who have become products of the times. Second John 1:8 says, “Look to yourselves, that we do not lose those things we worked for, but that we may receive a full reward.”
We do not have to be robbed of the full reward and increase which results from our faithfulness to God. But there is no shortcut here. We must maintain godly values and priorities, and refuse to lose what has been gained.
Look again at Timothy’s list of characteristics—those who have become products of their time. Out of all of these characteristics, the most dangerous is that they have become unloving.
We can think of people who have had more opportunity to become unloving than Joseph. The attacks against him were painful and destructive. It would be easy to understand if he had found a way to retaliate and pay everyone back—his brothers who sold him, Potiphar’s wife who lied and had him imprisoned, and even Pharaoh’s butler who was blessed by Joseph yet forgot him and let him stay in prison. Years of his life seemed wasted by the betrayal of others. Yet the life of Joseph demonstrates that with God nothing needs to be wasted. God can turn any situation around.
