Dream Killers (1)

“Here comes that dreamer!…let’s kill him.” Ge 37:19-20 NIV

For the next few days let’s look at some dream killers: Discouragement. An experiment was conducted with monkeys. Four of them were placed in a room with a tall pole in the center. On top was a big bunch of bananas. One of the monkeys started climbing the pole, but just as he reached out to grab a banana he was doused with a bucket of cold water. Squealing, he scampered down the pole and abandoned his attempt. Each monkey tried, and each was drenched with cold water. After several attempts they all gave up. Then the researchers removed one of the monkeys from the room and replaced him with a new one. As the newcomer began to climb the pole, the other three grabbed him and pulled him down. After trying to climb the pole several times and being dragged down by the others, he finally gave up and never attempted to climb the pole again. The researchers replaced the original monkeys one by one with new ones, and each time a new monkey was brought in, he was dragged down by the others before he could reach the bananas. In time, only the monkeys who’d never received a cold shower were in the room, but none of them would climb the pole. They prevented each other from climbing—but none of them knew why. The point? When God gave Joseph a dream of future greatness, his brothers resented him for it and said, “Here comes that dreamer!…let’s kill him.” Have others tried to throw cold water on your dream? Take heart. With God it’s never too late to start dreaming, or to pursue and fulfill the dream He has given you.

Share