Good day everyone, my name is Gboyega Adedeji. I am so glad to welcome you to this week's edition of Leaderview. I hope your week has been great? We bless God for that. I am sure you still remember that what we do in Leaderview is to challenge ourselves as leaders and to grow. We began a journey into the book of Genesis some weeks ago. Today, we are going to continue from where we stopped on the leadership trip to Genesis. We are going to be looking at the book of Genesis chapter 40, and we will be learning a crucial lesson as leaders. The leadership trip to Genesis is our focus, but our emphasis will be on Genesis chapter 40 today. We want to see "A Leader As One Who Interprets Dreams."
Listen to MP3 Podcast: Dream Interpreter: The Leader As One Who Interprets Dream
I am sure you are a leader, but you must also understand that beyond being a leader, it is crucial you fulfill the responsibility of your calling. People call you a leader, and you also call yourself a leader; but there is a responsibility attached to that calling. So, today, I am here to remind you of the responsibility of your calling as a leader. The Leader As One Who Interprets Dreams. Let us quickly go to the book of Genesis chapter 40 and I will read from verse 1. The Bible says:
"It came to pass after these things that the butler and the baker of the king of Egypt offended their lord, the king of Egypt. 2 And Pharaoh was angry with his two officers, the chief butler and the chief baker. 3 So he put them in custody in the house of the captain of the guard, in the prison, the place where Joseph was confined. 4 And the captain of the guard charged Joseph with them, and he served them; so they were in custody for a while."
Now, if we pause here, we must remember that Joseph was sold as a slave by his brothers who were jealous about his growth, about his acceptance and his favour with his father. So, they sold him to a group of traders who eventually sold him to Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh. Now, at a moment, the wife of Potiphar lied against him and so, he was put in prison. So, he had been in prison for a while and in spite of the fact that he was in prison, the Scriptures says because of God's presence on his life, whatever he did prospered. In fact, the one who was in charge of the prison committed the entire prison and the prisoners to his care.
At this moment, he was fulfilling his responsibility as a prisoner and the one who is in charge in prison. So, two officers, the chief baker and the chief butler offended the king and they were thrown into the prison. And so, Joseph was made to have responsibility over them. They were all prisoners, but he was expected to have charge over them and to serve them. This is important for us who have the calling of leadership to remember that leadership does not necessarily take place in the corner office or in front of the church or the people, it does not necessarily take place when you are appointed into the political office. Leadership is involved and required in every facet of life and in every level of living.
So, wherever you are, whether you call it a prison or a job, wherever level or position you are; there is a responsibility via your calling for you to serve and for you to have charge. To have charge is to have responsibility for a people. It is for you to take responsibility for the welfare of a people. Now, Joseph was confined in a place and despite his confinement, he was selfless enough to accept responsibility for the welfare of other prisoners, he was selfless enough to serve them. You know, the Bible says it in verse 4: "And the captain of the guard charged Joseph with them, and he served them;" So, this was not like he was given a responsibility and he went AWOL, No! He actually fulfilled the responsibility.
You know, our focus today is to see A Leader As One Who Interprets Dreams. Now, inherent in the capacity of a leader to interpret dreams is to serve the people that he is to interpret their dreams. You are to have charge over them and you are to serve them. Now let us go to verse 5. "Then the butler and the baker of the king of Egypt, who were confined in the prison, had a dream, both of them, each man’s dream in one night and each man’s dream with its own interpretation."
Now, they were two, yet, they both had dreams. Now, your organization, your team or your family could even have more than two. But the truth is as the two had dreams, even your team, your church, your organization, that could be twenty or that could be fifty, or hundred even one thousand, actually has people with dreams. You see, you could say that they are just fifty. But in reality, they are fifty dreamers. They have dreams, and you as the leader must know your responsibility that these people have dreams and there is no one interpretation that can serve the entire people.
So, you cannot tell yourself if only I can interpret the dream of one of them, I have interpreted the dream of others, No! Each person has his own dream and each dream has its own interpretation. Let us read the concluding part of that verse 5 again. It says "Then the butler and the baker of the king of Egypt, who were confined in the prison, had a dream, both of them…" Now that is how it is going to affect and relate with your own leadership; the five of them, the fifty of them, the entire people under your leadership. Each of them are expected to be dreamers, and they are expected to have dreams and you have a responsibility and you must see how Joseph fulfilled his own responsibility as one who interpret dream of his people.
Let us read Verse 6-7 of the same chapter of Genesis 40.
"And Joseph came in to them in the morning and looked at them, and saw that they were sad. 7 So he asked Pharaoh’s officers who were with him in the custody of his lord’s house, saying, “Why do you look so sad today?"
Now, they look so sad today, but they do not always look very sad. If they always look sad, he wouldn't have asked them why they look so sad today. The important thing we must also note is that he was a man who had charge over them indeed. He served them indeed to the point that he was able to discern their look, their countenance. He was able to know when their countenance falls and when their countenance rises. It is important for you to know that as one who interprets dreams, you must be able to connect with your people at personal levels. You must be able to engage them at personal levels, because the dreams of your people are private and personal to them.
And if you do not come to them personally and you remain at that level of carrying title as a leader, you will not be able to engage them and you will not be able to know the things that saddens their hearts. So, let us continue from verse 8.
"And they said to him, “We each have had a dream, and there is no interpreter of it.” So Joseph said to them, “Do not interpretations belong to God? Tell them to me, please.” 9 Then the chief butler told his dream to Joseph, and said to him, “Behold, in my dream a vine was before me, 10 and in the vine were three branches; it was as though it budded, its blossoms shot forth, and its clusters brought forth ripe grapes. 11 Then Pharaoh’s cup was in my hand; and I took the grapes and pressed them into Pharaoh’s cup, and placed the cup in Pharaoh’s hand.” 12 And Joseph said to him, “This is the interpretation of it: The three branches are three days. 13 Now within three days Pharaoh will lift up your head and restore you to your place, and you will put Pharaoh’s cup in his hand according to the former manner, when you were his butler. 14 But remember me when it is well with you, and please show kindness to me; make mention of me to Pharaoh, and get me out of this house."
Now, one thing I want us to note from the concluding phrase in that verse 14 is when he said "get me out of this house." Now Joseph was in a state that was not pleasant or palatable, yet, he was a leader, yet, he was faithful in service, yet, he took responsibility for the welfare of others. He was able to ease the pains of other people even though he was in pain. And that is to show you that being a leader is not an opportunity for you to be comforted, but an opportunity for you to comfort others who are in discomfort. So, you must appreciate that and get out of your personal cocoon and you must launch into the unfamiliar or uneasy terrain of others.
Get out of your own selfish interest into the interest of other people because the truth is, the dreams of other people are their interest. Their dreams matter to them just as your own dream matter to you. So, if you do not get out of your own matter, you do not get involved in the matter of others. You see, you must get beyond your own pain, your own desire, your own wishes or your own lack; to the point that you are able to help other people to find meaning to their lives. You see, to interpret in reality, is to give meaning to something. It is to explain something, the deep meaning behind something. And so, as a leader, you must understand that you have a responsibility to explain the meaning of life to your people.
When they see things, when they desire and imagine great things, when they see a life outside now, when they see a process beyond here; you must help them to understand it and to explain it. Do not be a leader that quench the hunger of your people. Do not be a leader that quench the fire of your people. What you are expected to do is to kindle such fire, you are expected to ignite and fan their fire to flame, you are expected to encourage them and help them to see the bigger picture. They are seeing things in a manner that is not clear, you are expected to help them see it very clearly. You have that responsibility, do not delegate it. It is a responsibility that you must actually perform as a leader.
You must work diligently to interpret the dreams of your people in spite of their number, whether plenty or few. Now if you read the concluding part of that chapter, you will notice that based on the interpretation of the butler's dream, the baker was excited. He also shared his own dream. However, the interpretation was not pleasant to him. The interpretation meant that he was to die, and in the third day, he was executed.
The first one, on the third day, he was restored as interpreted, but the second one, as interpreted, was killed. You must know, that irrespective of the manner of interpretation you have for the dreams of your people, you must share the dreams with them. Explain the dreams to them. Complex things are easy for you, perhaps because you are their leader. Don't lord it over them, don't take advantage of them. Expose them to the truth about who they really are. Help them to see the life beyond now, help them to find meaning in what they are committed to, helping them to see a better day ahead of them.
You see, as a leader, you are to serve your people, and you are to interpret their dreams. The leader indeed is one who interprets dreams. Are you already interpreting the dreams of your people? I want to encourage you to continue doing that because in due time, don't forget, that at the moment they came to Joseph, there was nothing to be encouraged with or by. He said to one, on the third day, you will be restored. And as it was said, his story changed on the third days as interpreted. So, there are some interpretations you will give to your people that may actually involve time.
Some of your people will not become who you are seeing them and explaining them to be immediately. It may take time. It may take a year, it may take a month, it may take a day, it may even take ten years. Irrespective of the time, let their eyes be fixed on a time that their situation will changed. Continue to emphasize that indeed, the dreams of their heart, will be fulfilled if only they can wait for it. Encourage them, teach them to be prepared for the actualization of their dreams. Equip them to be prepared to run, to be prepared to face the challenges of life and I see that in time to come, both you and the people, you will become “Dream Actualizers” and “Dream Fulfillers”.
Thank you for the gift of your time, my name is Gboyega Adedeji and you have been listening to and watching Leaderview. I am sure you remember that as a leader you are to serve, and as a leader, you are to interpret dreams. You must get involved personally in the lives of your people. Get beyond the official routine, go into the personal details of the lives of your people. Get to know their pains, get to know their joys. Get to know the things that excites them, that they are not clear about, then do a good job to interpret those things to them. Let them see things better, let them see things beyond they see, and understand beyond they see and let them have confidence to move forward.
Thank you and I hope to connect with you again next week in the same edition of leaderview, exposing leadership to us and challenging us to become better leaders. If you haven't subscribed to our YouTube Channel, The Centre for New Dimension Leadership, please do and click the notification bell, so that each time we have our new videos, you are notified and you are able to watch as soon as possible.
I hope to connect with you again next week, stay blessed!
