fast day four: Daniel 2, verses 1-23

The most powerful man in the world demands the impossible. "Tell me my dream and the interpretation." Evidently, Nebuchadnezzar had had it with the useless Chaldeans (the sorcerer, magician, astrologer, wise guys who had been giving him fluffy advice). Verses 10 and 11 set the stage. "There is not a man on earth who can do what the king asks! No king, however great and mighty, has ever asked such a thing of any magician or enchanter or astrologer. What the king asks is too difficult. No one can reveal it to the king except the gods, and they do not live among men." This time, the posers were telling the truth. No man alive could do what Nebuchadnezzar asked. Only God can reveal dreams. And the false Babylonian gods certainly did not live among men.

But Daniel's God did. And he knew it. He found out what was going on tactfully instead of freaking out when the executioner knocked on his door. He calmly went to see this ruthless, raging, beheader king and asked for some time to hear from God. Then he went home, got his three friends and they spent the night on their knees praying for the words from God that would spare their lives.

I love it when God puts me in impossible situations because on ordinary days, I can be quick to rely on myself. My solutions, my resources, my ideas, whatever. I love it when I'm in situations where only God can come through. I want to consistently respond to crises with the confident assurance Daniel had. He knew God could handle it, and he believed He would. But I think Daniel got there by trusting God to handle things on ordinary days. He didn't wait until he was standing in the shadow of the gallows to trust God to spare his life. He entrusted God with his life every day.

A John Maxwell book I read last month had a great quote. You can tell how much people trust you by how much they entrust to you. That goes both ways. How much of my life have I entrusted to God? To be really blunt, there's only one right answer to that question. Unless my answer is,"All of it!" then I'm fooling myself. My control of the situation is a delusion. I'm pretending I know what I'm doing just like the helpless Chaldeans.

Daniel's prayer of praise is my favorite part though by far. Just meditate on it. Know it to be true. Thank God for being who He is and loving who you are. And I believe that we can sing this song for answered prayer at the end of our 21 days.

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.