When Dreams Come True

Tonight our family was able to watch the DVD of Sight & Sound Theater's production of Joseph! It was amazing... Obviously, it had the theme "When Dreams Come True". I mean, with a story about Joseph, what else would it be about? But it also had other themes running through it. A major one was the them of character, of keeping your name.

Joseph's coat of many colors was a status symbol. That's why his brothers hated it so much. It showed everyone that Joseph was Jacob's favorite son. And it showed that he was heir of the promises of God. Joseph wore several other coats in the show. Potipher gave him a special coat, symbolizing the status and the favor he was shown in Potipher's house. He was also given another coat by Pharaoh himself, symbolizing his status as governor of Egypt.

But as important as these outward symbols were, they were not as important as the character that they symbolized. Joseph told Potipher's wife that he could not do this great evil against God. He could not lose his name. And as the guards were dragging him off towards the dungeon, Mrs. Potipher sneered in Joseph's face "You have lost everything". To which Joseph replied, "No! I have kept my name."

Later on, when faced with the appearance of his brothers in Egypt, Joseph was forced to face the wound that he had thought was dead and gone. The hurt that he had buried was now alive again, burning him intensely. But his wife was there to remind him about his life - and his dream. In his dream about the sheaves, his brothers sheaves all bowed to him, but only after he had stood upright. He had to stand upright, just as he had done in Potipher's house, just as he had done when approached by Potipher's wife, just as he had done in the prison, just as he had done before Pharaoh. And now he must stand upright again, keep his character, his name, and his brothers would bow to him.

Joseph did stand upright and his brothers did bow to him. And when his father was finally reunited with him, Joseph, sobbing, with his head buried in Jacob's shoulder, said "Father, I have kept my name."

That reminds me of another time, a time when we will be reunited with our Father. Will we be able to say on that day, "Father! I have kept Your name!" If so, that is when all our dreams will finally come true!