Daniel 2:30 “As for me, this mystery has been revealed to me, not because I have greater wisdom than other living men, but so that you, O king, may know the interpretation and that you may understand what went through your mind.

The stories in Daniel are both detailed and largely verifiable, because we have a lot of records of the Babylonian empire. Daniel’s statement here is worthy of some deep reflection. In the first place, he didn’t deny that he had greater wisdom than any of the king’s other advisors. Actually, it was evident that he did! However, his wisdom lay in the fact that he depended fully on God, and he gave God all the credit. He fit the various definitions of wisdom given in Psalms and Proverbs to a T. However, he recognized and declared that his wisdom wasn’t why God had showed him something he could not humanly have known. The purpose was to let Nebuchadnezzar know both what he had dreamed and what it meant, in such a way that he would put Daniel in a place of authority to do a lot of things God wanted to do through him. After all, there is no way for someone to know what another person has dreamed, when even that person can’t remember anything except that they had a big and powerful dream. This should be a reminder to us that first, nothing is impossible for God, and second, it doesn’t revolve around us, however much we might be involved in it. God had things He wanted to do through Daniel, and we only know a tiny fraction of them. We need to give God permission to do whatever He would like in and through us, and not even demand to know what it is or what the results will be. We don’t have to know everything, much less know it ahead of time; we only need to know the Lord, and be totally obedient to Him.

This is certainly applicable to me. Like everyone else, I tend to expect God to speak to me in ways that He has used with me before. I have mentioned from the pulpit repeatedly that God gives my wife dreams, but He doesn’t speak to me that way. Well, last night He gave me this coming Sunday’s message in a dream, complete with two Scriptures and various points. I’m grateful, but I too need to remember never to put God into any sort of box. In terms of wisdom, I was given a high IQ but have had to learn, sometimes painfully, that intelligence isn’t the same thing as wisdom. I need to learn from Daniel to depend on God for everything, as well as give Him all the credit. That might get me into trouble, just as it got Daniel thrown into the lions’ den, but He’s just as able to rescue me as He was Daniel, so my focus is to be on Him and nothing else. I am in a transition period in my life as I am preparing to retire from school teaching, and I have very little idea of what the Lord has planned for me after this. I am to trust Him with every detail, being fully responsive to Him, so that He may do in, to, and with me whatever He likes, for the sake of His kingdom and for His glory.

Father, thank You for this reminder, and thank You for the message You gave me in the night. I ask for continued guidance and anointing as I type the outline so that it will be Your message in every detail, accomplishing that for which You are sending it, for the salvation of many and for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!