Each time I cast my mind back to where my story began, I am still amazed at how far I have come. Who would have thought that a village boy born into a modest home will be a great success today.
I remember the disbelief when I voiced out my desire to become a doctor. Many people who had good intentions offered to give me seemingly “wise” advice. Where will the money come from? Do you know how many years that will take you? I know many of these doubts came from a logical place. Given my circumstances, it seemed ridiculous and too far reaching for me to even think of taking that road. People were concerned that I wasn’t cutting my coat according to my size, they didn’t want me to crash land or embark on a journey I couldn’t complete or worse still, spend years with high hopes only to have them dashed. However, no matter how impossible my dreams seemed, they weren’t coming from a place of vain hope, they were coming from a place of unshakeable faith.
Consider the story of Joseph in the Bible. His dreams at the age of 17 were dismissed by his family, those who were even supposed to offer him full support. Not only did they dismiss his dreams, they took further steps to foreclose any chance the dreams had of coming to pass, and sold him into slavery. In the place of slavery, it seemed as if the time had come for his dreams to materialize as he began to prosper in Potiphar’s house. But opposition again arose in the person of Potiphar’s wife and his next destination was prison. I'm sure in the course of all these Joseph may have wondered if his dreams were just products of mere fantasies that will never come to pass. In the prison things began to brighten up for him and he was well liked but no matter how nice it was, prison was still prison and after he interpreted the dream of Pharaoh’s chief cup-bearer he appealed to him to mention his case to Pharaoh. Sadly, this seemed to be yet another dead end as the chief cup-bearer forgot about Joseph as soon as he was restored to his former position and two years passed.
However, the day came when the dreams were achieved beyond Joseph’s wildest imagination. The day came when Joseph woke up in prison thinking the day would go as usual, like any other day but within hours, by reason of his interpreting Pharaoh’s dreams and proffering a solution to the oncoming famine, he was elevated to the palace, second to no one but Pharaoh. Based on his dreams, Joseph must have thought he was only meant to rule over his family or community but when the dream was actualised, he was made ruler firstly over the nation of Egypt and this extended to many other nations when the famine came.
Yes Joseph's dreams at 17 took 13 years to come into reality but they definitely became a reality.
Perhaps you have dreams and have set goals for yourself that seem impossible. Even if everyone around you is against it, even if the situation in which you find yourself seems incompatible with your dreams, hold on to them. Don’t lose faith, remind yourself regularly to find encouragement in the Lord. For the moment you begin to allow what you can see presently to dictate your future, you will remain small and never grow.
There is also the place for patience and perseverance because there will always be a process. In the course of the process you may face certain difficulties. You must decide early on how you will treat these difficulties. Either to see them as reasons to give up or to see them as mere dark tunnels which eventually lead to light. Habakkuk 2:3 KJV says “For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak, and not lie: though it tarry, wait for it...” (Emphasis added). You will have to wait patiently for it. The place of waiting should be seen as an exercise of faith, work at strengthening your faith as you wait, you should also see the place of waiting as a preparation ground for you. And as you wait, don’t neglect to count your blessings as they come. Every difficulty overcome is a blessing, every hurdle crossed is a blessing, what seems to be a stumbling block that is actually a stepping stone, is a blessing. All these will be leading you to more glorious things but you will have to patiently go through them all.
In the end, the months or years will not matter. When Joseph was made ruler over Egypt, the time spent in the pit, as a slave and as a prisoner became irrelevant when compared to who he had become.
My reality today has cancelled out every seeming difficulty I passed through before getting here. Not only am I a doctor, I have attained experience and influence in various fields of human exploration even far beyond my initial expectations. My life and experiences constantly serve as a model to others, I have been able to impact so many people including those unknown to me. The same people who thought my dreams were impossible years ago, join me today in celebrating my blessings as they come. Their seemingly good advice for me to forget about my dreams is now long forgotten.
This can be your testimony too. If you are on the verge of giving up, renew your strength and wait, it will surely come. And if you have given up, well it’s not too late even for you. You can still dream and your dream can still be actualised.
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