The Furnace of LeadershipSample

When the Dream Meets the Wound

It had been years. Years since the pit. Years since betrayal. Years of prisons and Pharaoh and famine. And now, Joseph stood face to face with the very brothers who once ripped his robe and sold his soul for silver.

They bowed before him—just like the dream said they would.

But this moment wasn’t clean. It wasn’t triumphant. It was messy. Joseph wept. He wrestled. He spoke harshly. He tested their words. He watched their guilt rise to the surface like it had never left. Because it hadn’t.

This is what it’s like when the dream finally meets the wound.

When you step into the room God once showed you—but your heart still remembers the pain it took to get there. When you’re in a position of power but still carry the ache of the pit. When the people who broke you don’t even recognize who you’ve become.

My friends, leadership isn’t just about strategy—it’s about stewardship. Of your emotions. Your story. Your authority. Joseph could have crushed them. Instead, he restrained. He led with truth and tension. Grace and gravity. He gave grain to the same ones who took everything from him.

Dear leader, my encouragement to you today is this: The real test of leadership isn’t what you’ll do when you rise—it’s who you’ll be.

Reflection/Discussion Questions:

• Have you ever been in a situation where the people who hurt you needed your help? How did you respond?
• Are there unhealed places in your story that God is inviting you to lead through instead of from?
• What does it look like to steward your influence with both wisdom and compassion?