Facing our nebuchadnezzar’s with confidence.

Do you find yourself reacting or responding when there is a crisis, and when it’s all over, do you remember to stop and thank God before doing anything else? A couple of questions that come out of chapter two of the book of Daniel.

Nebuchadnezzar had been having some crazy dreams. Not from eating too much sugar after 9pm or from watching late movies. No, these were dreams from God who wanted his attention. Old Neb was so concerned that he couldn’t sleep.

The king needed answers so he called all his magicians, enchanters, sorcerers and astrologers hoping that they could do their thing and tell him the meaning of his dream. All of a sudden we see Nebuchadnezzar’s mood dramatically change and instead of sharing the dream with his people so they could interpret its meaning he demands that they tell him both what his dream is and its meaning.

Maybe Nebuchadnezzar is so stressed from what’s been keeping him awake, that he is looking for someone to trust?

In verses 7 – 11 we see the dialogue continue. It would appear that The king has lost his marbles with his request, or maybe he is a bit over it and no longer has any faith in his people. He is so angry that he orders the execution of all the wise men of Babylon. This included Daniel and his friends who were now serving Nebuchadnezzar. Bonkers!

Daniels Confidence in God

We are told that when the commander of the Kinds guard went to get Daniel and his mates, that Daniel spoke with him with wisdom and tact. Daniel asked “why the king had issued such a harsh decree” verse 15 says. I am impressed by his approach and pretty sure all Christians could learn from his level headedness. Daniel has just found out that he is going to be put to death and as we can see he chooses a calm approach rather than allowing anxiety to rule over him.

Having an understanding of Gods sovereignty in all circumstances meant that Daniel would trust no matter what was happening.

So what happens next is pretty awesome. Not only does Daniel not lose his cool, he then goes to his mates and asks them to join him in Prayer. Here’s a guy and his friends who are slaves in a foreign land, who are choosing to trust in the God of their people even though they are far from home. I would love to think that I would have done the exact same thing, but if I’m honest, I reckon I would have been thinking of an escape plan instead of praying for help. What about you?

God then reveals the dream and its meaning to Daniel and in the next 4 verses we see Daniel praising God and being thankful. It kind of reminds me of the story of the healing of the 10 lepers where only one returned to thank Jesus before doing anything else. It is then we read about Daniels confidence before Nebuchadnezzar and how bold he was to point to God and not himself.

Our confidence in God

So, what can we learn from this chapter of the book of Daniel? It’s important to point out here that you can memorize all the scripture you want and come across as a hard-core theologian, but if you don’t take the time to know God and choose to know him from a distance instead, when it comes to facing challenges in our lives, you will forever feel disconnected from the peace of God.

• Knowing God and understanding who he is when things are going good gives you the strength to trust him when things are not.
• That confidence in God will lead you to use wisdom in the face of trouble, instead of reacting like many do. Asking questions like Daniel did will allow us to be more tactical in our approach.
• Prayer is imperative for Christians, especially when it comes to facing challenges big or small, and inviting others to pray with us is just as important.
• Stop and thank God for showing you what you needed or delivering you from a problem. I reckon doing this sooner rather than later helps you see how faithful God is.

In the end it’s not so much about how strong we stood in the face of adversity, but more about confidence in our God who can be trusted. And like Daniel who stood before king Nebuchadnezzar pointing him to who really was in charge, we can also stand with boldness pointing to God who reveals mysteries.

Thanks for reading and as always, if you found anything helpful from this post or have your own insights, please leave a comment.