📅 November 22, 2025

🌾 Joseph – Faith That Carries You Through
Devotions from the Life of a Dreamer with Character

🧍‍♂️ 2. When Your Family Doesn’t Understand You
God sees your heart – even when others only judge your dream

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👣 Introduction

Family – usually the place where you are understood, supported, and loved.
A place where your words should carry weight and your dreams should find space.

But for Joseph, it was the opposite.

His brothers heard his dreams – but they didn’t hear his heart.
They didn’t see that God was speaking to him.
They saw only a younger one, a favored one, someone who seemed to “think too big.”

Brotherhood turned into jealousy.
Jealousy turned into rejection.
And rejection turned into betrayal.

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📖 Devotion

Genesis 37:8:
“Do you intend to reign over us? Will you actually rule us?”
And they hated him even more because of his dreams and his words.

The sun hung low over the fields of Canaan as Joseph walked toward his brothers.
He was young, full of zeal, with a heart burning for what God had shown him.
His colorful robe fluttered in the wind – a gift from his father, but for his brothers a constant thorn in the flesh.

Joseph could hardly contain himself.
The dream God had given him had been so vivid, so clear.
It was not an illusion, not wishful thinking.
It was an encounter with something divine.

So he ran to them – the way a 17-year-old runs when he’s excited.
“Listen, I had a dream…,” he began.

But as soon as he spoke the first words, the eyes of his brothers darkened.
What Joseph experienced as a gift, they felt as an attack.
What for him was a glimpse into God’s future was, for them, pure arrogance.

They didn’t hear the longing in his voice.
They saw only the implications of the images – and they felt small.

“Do you intend to rule over us?”, they mocked.
But behind the mockery there was hurt.
And behind the hurt: fear.

From that day on, a shadow fell over the family.
Joseph’s words, which were actually full of hope, triggered rejection he couldn’t understand.
Every time he spoke, the tension increased.
Every time he shared, their hatred grew.

What Joseph didn’t know:
While his brothers turned away from him, God turned toward him.
And while they pushed his dreams down, God lifted him up on the inside.

Because God sees differently:
Where people see competition, God sees calling.
Where people see threat, God sees potential.
Where people see only the outside, God sees the heart.

Joseph often stood alone.
Not understood.
Not taken seriously.
Not welcomed with what God had entrusted to him.

But God was near – even when his own brothers were far.

Ellen White puts it plainly:

“When God calls a young person, He also tests their patience.
Rejection is sometimes part of the training.”

Joseph’s brothers wanted to silence the dream.
But God wanted to bring it to life.

And in those quiet moments – between rejection and divine assurance –
Joseph grew.
His character was shaped.
His soul was refined.
His heart became steadfast.

God allowed rejection – not to break Joseph,
but to build him.

And so Joseph begins his journey: not understood by people, but carried by God.

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💡 Thoughts – What does this mean for us?

• You can be misunderstood by people – and still be at the center of God’s plan.

• Not everyone will recognize your calling, but God never loses sight of it.

• Rejection is not a sign that your dream is wrong.

• Sometimes God’s path begins exactly where human approval ends.

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💎 What can we learn from Joseph?

• God’s voice is more important than the opinions of others.
  Even when those close to you don’t understand you.

• Not everyone is ready to hear your dreams.
  And that’s not a mistake – neither yours nor theirs.

• Rejection can bring you closer to God.
  It forces us to listen to Him instead of people.

• God sees your heart.
  He knows why you dream the dreams you dream.

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👣 Practical steps for you

• Examine your dreams in prayer:
  Ask God, “Is this from You?”

• Find a spiritual person you trust:
  Not everyone is mature enough for your vision – but someone is.

• Practice patience:
  Sometimes the dream is real, but the timing is not.

• Guard your heart from becoming bitter:
  Hurt is real, but it doesn’t have to define you.

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💭 Practical questions for reflection

1. Whom am I trying to impress – and whom do I truly want to please: people or God?

2. Which of my dreams have been mocked or rejected?

3. How do I deal inwardly with not being understood?

4. Could God be using misunderstandings to shape my character?

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🙏 Prayer

Dear Father in heaven,
you know my heart, and you know the dreams you have placed within me.
You know what it feels like not to be understood –
and how much it hurts when those close to me see me wrongly.

Please give me a steadfast heart.
Give me courage to walk your path even when others speak against it.
Help me be patient when rejection wounds me.
And remind me that you see me –
even when people do not recognize me.

Shape my character,
strengthen my faith,
and let me know:
You make no mistakes.

Amen.

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🔑 Key thought of the day

God’s view of you is clearer and more loving than any human opinion –
and He holds on to your dream even when others don’t understand it.

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🌿 Blessing to close

The God who saw Joseph when his brothers overlooked him
bless you.

May He give you peace when you are misunderstood,
courage when you stand alone,
and deep confidence
that He is guiding your path –
even through valleys of rejection.

May you feel
that God’s hand holds you,
His love carries you,
and His plan for you never wavers.

Amen.

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LumenCorde | Daily light for a living soul.

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