But while he thought about these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.” – Matthew 1: 20-21

The Bible speaks of two dreamers named Joseph. In the Old Testament, a young man named Joseph had two dreams which he related to his brothers and parents. The theme of both dreams was essentially the same. It was that, at some point, all of them would bow down to him. (Genesis 37)

For the Old Testament Joseph, his dreams came as revelation without instructions. In other words, what he was shown in his dreams showed him what would happen, but did not give him any direction on what he was to do to make it happen. Thus, this Joseph never really followed his dreams. His dreams followed him.

The New Testament introduces us to another dreamer named Joseph. This man was espoused to Mary, the soon to be mother of Jesus. When Joseph learned that his fiancé was pregnant without ever having had sexual relations with him, of course, his first reaction was to suspect another man. While planning to divorce Mary quietly, he went to sleep one night and had a dream. In this dream, he was informed that the father of Mary’s baby was not another man. It was the Holy Ghost! Joseph was also told in his dream not to be afraid to take Mary as his wife. Thus, for him, his dream gave him both revelation and instructions.

When Joseph woke up the next morning, he had a choice with respect to the dream. “Do I forget it and Mary or do I follow it and marry Mary as I have been instructed?” Do you see the difference between the two Josephs? Both had dreams, but only one was given instructions on what to do about it. We now read about this second Joseph only because he made the courageous and conscious decision to follow his dream.

He did so because the dream was from God. He did so because it shed light on his current situation. He did so because it showed how his current experience was connected to his place in history and his ultimate destiny.

We can learn from both of these dreamers. Whether we are following our dream or our dream is following us, dreams are instruments of God to show us where we are destined to be, how to get there and what we will look like when we finally arrive.