As Joseph revealed himself to his brothers, he showed that he finally understood the purpose for which God gave him the dream. What he understood about the purpose of his dream as a mature leader was very different from what he thought as a 17-year-old.

And now, do not be distressed and do not be angry with yourselves for selling me here, because it was to save lives that God sent me ahead of you. For two years now there has been famine in the land, and for the next five years there will not be plowing and reaping. But God sent me ahead of you to preserve for you a remnant on earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance. So then, it was not you who sent me here, but God. He made me father to Pharaoh, lord of his entire household and ruler of all Egypt. Now hurry back to my father and say to him, 'This is what your son Joseph says: God has made me lord of all Egypt. Come down to me; don't delay. You shall live in the region of Goshen and be near me—you, your children and grandchildren, your flocks and herds, and all you have. I will provide for you there, because five years of famine are still to come. Otherwise you and your household and all who belong to you will become destitute' (Genesis 45:5-8).

Joseph understood the purpose for which God had given him a dream. It was not really about him, it was all about God. Joseph teaches servant leaders the reason God gives dreams.

Dreams are to reveal God’s plan.

Joseph says, “it was not you who sent me here, but God.” Joseph looked back over the events of his life. It looked like his brothers were in control of his destiny, but he realized that it was actually God at work in his life even in the midst of painful experiences.

Every dream from God is to reveal the plan God has for His people. God calls some leaders to work in the business world, in politics, in health care or in the church. God gives a dream. But the dream is not about the leader. It is to reveal God’s plan in that arena of life. Servant leaders recognize that it is God who equipped and prepared them to carry out His dream. Their dream reveals God’s heart and God’s plan.

Dreams are to resource God’s people.

When Joseph was young, he imagined that the dream was about others bowing down to him. Now he acknowledges, “it was to save lives that God sent me ahead of you.” Joseph sees that God’s dream was not about others meeting his needs, but it was about him meeting the needs of others.

Most leaders accomplish dreams to provide for themselves but servant leaders recognize that God gave them a dream to provide for the needs of others. They recognize that the measure of success is not how many bow down to them, but how many they can serve.

Dreams are to restore God’s relationships.

As a young man Joseph thought his dream was about his family bowing down to him. Then his brothers hurt him deeply and for years he tried to forget the pain.

But God’s plan was for Joseph to be healed from the pain, to forgive them and be restored to his family. Joseph went through the painful process of forgiving his brothers. Now he recognizes that the dream was to bring the family together. He says, “You shall….be near me.”

Later, after his father died, he said to his brothers, “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives” (Genesis 50:20). Some leaders are so intent on accomplishing their dreams that they ruin relationships in the process. But Joseph teaches us that dreams which divide are not from God. God’s dreams bring people back into relationship.

Joseph’s life teaches all servant leaders that God has a purpose for the dream. Dream on!

For further reflection and discussion:

• Is my understanding of the purpose of my dream closer to Joseph’s as a 17-year-old, or closer to his understanding as a mature leader? What is God inviting me to change?
• Is my dream about my own plans or the plans of God? In what way do I need to more clearly see God’s plan revealed in my dream?
• Is my dream about others bowing down to me, or about God using me to serve others?
• In what way does God want to use the dream I am currently pursuing to provide for others? How can I increase the way my dream meets their needs?
• Are there any broken relationships as a result of my dream? In what way might God want those relationships to be restored? What is my role in bringing needed healing?
• Has my family impacted my dream positively or negatively? (God’s design for families is for them to be places where dreams are nurtured and encouraged. But many crush and ridicule dreams instead, like Joseph’s brothers. Joseph’s family nearly busted his dream, but God helped him to use his family to build the dream.) What can I learn from Joseph’s family relationships that can help me respond appropriately in my family?

In the two previous issues we examined how to get trust and how to keep it. But what happens when trust is lost? Recovering trust is one of the most difficult tasks servant leaders can face. Three steps will start you on the journey.

Identify what happened.

Look for the reasons trust has been lost. Was it your mistake or a character failure? Did the failure come from a former leader or something that happened in the history of the group you now lead? Was it a single incident or a series of events that caused the followers to lose trust? Servant leaders take the time to look for answers to these questions so they can determine how to lead their group forward and rebuild trust.

Acknowledge mistakes.

After you identify what has happened, appropriately acknowledge the mistakes made by yourself or other leaders. The followers already know what happened; they only wonder if their leader will address the issue or not. Leaders often feel that we must maintain a role of perfection. Nothing is further from the truth. When leaders refuse to openly take personal responsibility for their failures they only deepen the deficit of trust. Based on the circumstances of your situation this may need to be done privately to a few individuals or at a public meeting. Servant leaders are willing to take the initiative to acknowledge what has gone wrong.

As you openly acknowledge the hurts from the past, prepare yourself to take the heat that will result. In cases where you have been wrong and failed, God will need to work in your life to rebuild your character and it will be a time of testing for you in your spiritual journey. When others were responsible for lost trust, some of the pain or anger that followers experienced may be directed at you. In any case you will be called to a greater depth of personal humility, a part of God’s plan to shape and strengthen your character. Servant leaders are willing to allow God to do this work in their lives.

Commit to rebuild.

Make a commitment to do whatever it takes to rebuild the trust of your followers. The process of restoring trust will test your commitment to God, others, and the process itself. Recognize that it will take time, even more time than it took to establish trust initially since now you begin from a deficit. There will likely be some resistance to overcome. You may need to seek reconciliation between yourself and those who have been hurt in the past or to bring together persons who have been directly involved in the situation that destroyed trust.

As you rebuild trust, lead with an open heart. Where trust has been destroyed people build walls of protection that are natural defense mechanisms to avoid further pain. Servant leaders recognize that followers find it difficult to trust a leader who is not open. They seek God’s grace to keep their heart open to followers and thereby model what it means to trust again. This may mean that you appropriately disclose what you are doing to rebuild trust or reveal some of the pain you are going through in the time of rebuilding trust.

Finally, servant leaders maintain hope that trust can be restored. God gives grace to trust again and the power to offer grace to those who need to regain their trust in us.

For further reflection and discussion:

• In places where trust has been broken, have I done all I can to restore trust?
• In my leadership context, what are the reasons trust has been lost? What has been the result of this loss? Which persons are most deeply impacted? What is the level of my current relationship with them?
• What is an appropriate way for me to acknowledge to my followers the loss of trust? How can I take personal responsibility for the restoration of trust with my followers?
• What key individuals do I need to meet with to begin rebuilding trust?