Daniel 2:17-20
"Then Daniel returned to his house and explained the matter to his friends Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah. He urged them to plead for mercy from the God of heaven concerning this mystery so that he and his friends might not be executed with the rest of the wise men of Babylon. During the night the mystery was revealed to Daniel in a vision."
So Daniel's life is at stake and so are his three pals. They plead to God for mercy and answers. And God answers... just Daniel. He reveals to Daniel what was in the king's dream so that Daniel can go tell the king and save himself AND his three friends. Can you just imagine how nervous those three guys were? Knowing that Daniel was about to go say to the king, "Hey I think I know what your dream was about." What if he had been wrong? Toast. For all of them.
I know what I would have said. "Hey Daniel, why don't you run that by me before you go talk to the king. I'll ask God to affirm that that's what he told you and THEN you can go make sure we don't get murdered."
And here's what Beth Moore says about all this in her Daniel Bible study:
"I want you to imagine being one of the three who didn't receive (the revelation). Their place was critical. It was on their knees. At the same time, they had to trust that God had given a clear answer that concerned their very lives to someone else. Trusting someone else's relationship with God to the degree that you'd receive a vital message through Him is challenging.
Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah not only had to trust God; they had to trust Daniel as having heard from Him. Few of our lives have been at stake, but most of us have been in positions where we had to trust God's message to someone else that also concerned us (a spouse, boss pastor, or trusted friend to name a few.
I remember not long ago when I confessed to God that I didn't know whether I could trust ____ to hear from Him in a matter that greatly affected me. He seemed to respond to my heart, 'Can you trust me with ____?' Do you need to fill in those blanks with an invisible name? If so, do it. "
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Oh, Beth. Must you point out my control freak ways?
1 comment:
How did I miss your Beth Moore reference?! She is my new favorite... and honestly, at times, I feel a little bit embarrassed referencing her. On the back cover of her books, she's always giving a gigantic smile with her HUGE blond Texas hair. I feel like I'm trading in Lewis, Nouwen, Bonhoffer and Chesterton for her. She's just so theologically solid and emotionally spot on.
It makes me feel happy that such a well-read, intellectual lady like you reads her too :)
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