Have the faith and strength to keep your dream alive

Many of those who are admired in life are those who withstood their current test or time of tribulation and survived, in spite of all of the odds that were stacked against them. 

They came through and presented themselves as winners. 

I deem Rachel as one of those who can be admired for her fortitude and doggedness in not letting go of her dream. 

Rachel had a desire or a dream to have a child. 

Transition

From the moment she married Jacob she sought to provide him with a seed. 

To her disappointment and frustration, Rachel did not conceive. As a matter of fact, the Bible calls her ‘barren’. 

This lets you and I know that Rachel actually was not capable of having a child. It was just not going to happen.

(Gen 29:31 KJV): And when the LORD saw that Leah was hated, he opened her womb: but Rachel was barren.

Even though Rachel was barren she still did not give up on her dream of having a child.

Rachel had a dream 

When you have a dream, it is important to hold on to your dream, even in the face of defeat. 

If you truly believe that your dream will come true, then you cannot abort your dream.

In the earlier part of Rachel’s story, she tried to use others to make her dream come true. 

She depended on Jacob and blamed him because she could not conceive.  

Rachel then brought in a slave girl, Bilhah, so that she could have children by her.  

Yes, Rachel allowed Jacob to sleep with and reproduce with another woman in order that she would have the child produced from that union.

Genesis 30:3: And she said, Behold my maid Bilhah, go in unto her; and she shall bear upon my knees, that I may also have children by her.

4 And she gave him Bilhah her handmaid to wife: and Jacob went in unto her.

Rachel had a deliverer

Genesis 30:22: And God remembered Rachel, and God hearkened to her, and opened her womb.

23 And she conceived, and bare a son; and said, God hath taken away my reproach:

24 And she called his name Joseph; and said, The LORD shall add to me another son.

Rachel must have gone through a personal transition, because she gave credit to God for opening up her womb. 

Rachel was right. 

How do we know?  Because previously she was barren, and only God can unlock and open up a barren womb. 

Rachel held a dreamer

Isn’t it wonderful that Rachel did not give up and God delivered her dream baby named Joseph, who would actually be known as ‘The Dreamer’.

God will take you through your time of disappointment and then reward you in a double way. 

God will hear you and then God will hearken unto you. 

Wow! When God hears and hearkens unto you, you are guaranteed that you will see your dream come true. 

Your challenge is to have the strength and tenacity to keep your dream before you and to keep your dream as a possibility about to occur at any moment. 

Rachel had to have hope and she kept hope alive. She then transferred her hope from being in the hands of mankind to being in the hands of The Creator of all of mankind.

(Psa 20:7 KJV): Some trust in chariots, and some in horses: but we will remember the name of the LORD our God.

When Rachel remembered God, God remembered her. 

God put all of the pieces of the puzzle of Rachel’s life together. 

What had seemed a picture of failure was now a portrait of a dream called reality. 

God delivered Rachel’s’ dream to her. Her dream was delayed but not denied. 

Keep your trust in God. Blessings abound. n

Dr Maria A Seaman is the pastor of Shekinah Worship Centre, North Shore Road, Hamilton Parish.