Daniel 2:19-23 - During the
night the mystery was revealed to Daniel in a vision.
Then Daniel praised the God of heaven and said: "Praise be
to the name of God for ever and ever; wisdom and power are his. He changes times and seasons; he sets up
kings and deposes them. He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the discerning. He
reveals deep and hidden things; he knows what lies in darkness, and light dwells with him. I thank and praise you, O God of my fathers: You have given me wisdom and power, you have made
known to me what we asked of you, you have made known to us the dream of the
king."
The king had had a disturbing dream. He called all of his
magicians and astrologers together…but none them had a clue what it meant. The
king was going to put them all to death…but Daniel stepped in and requested for
the king not to kill them. Daniel knew that God was going to use this time to
show his power over the gods they worshiped….and Daniel was given great wisdom
to interpret the dream.
Daniel thanked God for the wisdom to interpret the king’s
dream….and praised him for having such mercy on him…and the people of
Babylon. So Nebuchadnezzar praised God
too. It was a simple statement that Daniel’s God had more power than his…but it
was a start. Nebuchadnezzar admitting that Jehovah was wiser than any of the gods
he had worshiped was a huge step.
It is a reminder that we just don’t know when God is going
to use us to reveal his glory and love to others. We may not be able to
interpret a crazy dream for a non-believer…but if we model our faith on a
consistent basis…the others around us will begin to see what drives us to love
in the first place. Daniel held such reverence for life that he stepped up and
volunteered to do what none of them could do…just to save their lives. He knew
that if he asked God to help him…he could do anything that would elevate the
king’s faith in God.
Philippians 4:13 says…. “I can do all things through Christ
that strengthens me.” It doesn’t say I can do some things…or the things that I
think need to be done. It doesn’t say I
can the easy things…and back away from what is hard. It says I can do ALL
things….if I call on God to help me.
Father… thank you for the reminder that I can do so
much more than I ever dreamed if I let you help me. Forgive me for the times that I fall short…and
give up because I think it is too hard. Help me to embed this story of faith…and the
words of Paul in my heart and soul…so my mind will recall them the next time I
want to give up. Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment