Daniel 2:1-30
Dear RTB’ers,
An interesting narrative today. The king has a dream and wants an interpretation. But he asks his wise counselors, Chaldeans, to tell him both the dream and its interpretation. Obviously these Chaldeans cannot obey that demand: The thing that the king asks is difficult, and no one can show it to the king except the gods, whose dwelling is not with flesh. (v. 11) They are correct – their normal “gods” cannot deliver what the king asks; only the God of Heaven and Earth can do that.
So the king imposes a death sentence on all of his wise advisors, including Daniel and his companions. The four Israelites gather together and Daniel asks them to pray. God answers Daniel’s prayer with a vision in the night and Daniel asks for a meeting with the king.
I particularly liked a few verses in Daniel’s prayer of thanksgiving: …He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding; He reveals deep and hidden things; He knows what is in the darkness, and the light dwells with Him. (vv. 21b-22) That same wisdom and knowledge is available to us as we seek Him more and more. An incident in my life… I was writing my Ph.D. dissertation and had hit a dead end of sorts. Things weren’t working out, my advisor was not convinced. I didn’t know how to go on and the December graduation submission date was getting closer and closer. Carol and I were praying and it came to me to rearrange major sections that I had written, to change the order of chapters 4a, 4b, 5a, 5b to 4a, 5a, 4b, 5b. That made complete sense! I did that, my advisor approved it, and I finished on time. I can’t claim wisdom and knowledge in that incident, but I can claim an answer to prayer – a direction that I had not come up with on my own.
And the rest of you…? Are there times in your life when your own vision was cloudy before the Lord intervened with an entirely new direction? Calling these incidents to mind can be helpful when new doubts are assailing you. Then, as with my yesterday close, thank Him and praise Him for all that He has done for you!
Blessings!
Fred