“Then Daniel went to his house, and made the decision known to Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, his companions, that they might seek mercies from the God of heaven concerning this secret, so that Daniel and his companions might not perish with the rest of the wise men of Babylon. Then the secret was revealed to Daniel in a night vision. So Daniel blessed the God of heaven. Daniel answered and said: “Blessed be the name of God forever and ever,
For wisdom and might are His. And He changes the times and the seasons; He removes kings and raises up kings; He gives wisdom to the wise And knowledge to those who have understanding. He reveals deep and secret things; He knows what is in the darkness,
And light dwells with Him” (Daniel 2:17-22, NKJV).
Daniel is a favorite Bible character of just about everyone. In Chapter 2, Nebuchadnezzar has a dream that troubles him. He called all his wise men together and asked them to interpret the dream. But first, they had to tell him the dream and then interpret it. And they were under penalty of death if they did not.
Time was just about to run out when Daniel heard the news. He did what we should all do in a challenging situation: pray! And get our friends to pray also! Go to the One Who holds the future in His hand.
You know the rest of the story. Daniel did indeed tell the dream and its interpretation of the great image of gold, silver, bronze, iron, and clay that Nebuchadnezzar saw. And of a stone
cut without hands, that struck the image and destroyed it and became a great mountain.
The coming Messianic kingdom of Christ!
As Daniel worships and expresses his adoration to God for answering the prayers, he makes some beautiful expressions to the Father of lights. As we begin a new year, I thought we could meditate for a few minutes on our God, Who holds our future just as surely as He did Daniel’s.
Wisdom and might are His. The world is full of philosophers, commentators, and influencers
who are confident in their own wisdom, so-called. We live in the information age, and the
amount of words generated each month grows exponentially. There is seemingly no end to
the number of people who want you and me to listen to them. Yet they come and go so fast.
One hundred years from now, whose words will stand the test of time? How about one
thousand? All flesh is as grass...but the Word of our God endures forever.
He changes the times and the seasons. Climate anxiety has become a global problem.
Consider this: “A global survey published in Lancet Planetary Health in 2021 reported that
among an international cohort of more than 10,000 people between the ages of 16 and
25, 60 percent described themselves as very worried about the climate and nearly half said
the anxiety affects their daily functioning” (https://magazine.hms.harvard.edu/articles/climate-anxiety). Yet our God holds the world in His hands. He changes the times and the seasons; we do not. That is not an excuse to be irresponsible. But it is a reason to rest in our Creator.
He knows what is in the darkness, and light dwells with Him. There are no mysteries in
heaven. Therefore there is no anxiety there. We may be surprised and frightened by what
goes on down here, but our God is not. We do not know all the answers but know the
One Who does. There is far more peace in knowing the King than in all the mysteries
man has discovered. This is one of the great lessons from Job.
As we turn our thoughts and attention to the new year, remember that “their rock is not like
our Rock”! He is worthy of all our worship and service.
—John Ostic
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