Improbable


Prayer: Dear Lord God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. You are awesome and marvelous; holy beyond description. Please come and join me now as I look into Your Word and as I meditate on Your greatness. Please be honored by this time and fill my spirit with Your Presence. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.


Read: Daniel 2:1-23
http://www.esvbible.org/Daniel 2


Thoughts: There is an old cliché that says, “Believe none of what you hear and only half of what you see.” But, as with all clichés, there is a nugget of truth there. People have a tendency to exaggerate when they tell a story or embellish just a little to make the tale more interesting. The storyteller may even be guilty to spinning the story so that they look better or come out the hero somehow. And sometimes the story is just too strange to be true and we just don’t believe it at all. The tale we read from Daniel 2 has that feel to it. It’s almost too weird to be true.
     But it is. Imagine someone asking you to tell them what they dreamt last night! No clue, no hints; just tell me what I dreamt about and I’ll believe you have some mighty power to interpret that dream. We would all just laugh. No one can do that, right? And neither could Daniel. Yet his life and the lives of his friends lie in the balance. Nebuchadnezzar won’t hesitate to kill all of the “wise men” and “magicians” if they can’t meet his demands. Can you imagine the panic that this group of men felt as they realized they were never going to be able to fulfill his request? Death was imminent. But Daniel asks for just a little time before the sentence is carried out and he gathers about him the Bible’s first small group – his fellow captives from Jerusalem. Together with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, Daniel prays all night long, asking God to answer a question that only He can answer. What did Nebuchadnezzar dream? And, not only what was the dream, but what does it mean? God comes through with the answers. The impossible always becomes possible with God. If something falls within His will the silent inner workings of a man’s mind are no obstacle for God.
     What do you do when faced with the impossible? Do you panic like Nebuchadnezzar’s magicians? Or do you instead follow Daniel’s example and turn to the Lord in prayer. The correct path seems fairly obvious, but far too often we are inclined to exhaust all of our own resources first then realize that we are not up to the task and hit the panic button. Only in our panic will we then turn to the Lord and ask for His help with our problem. There are so many Bible stories (especially in the Old Testament) that teach us the all-encompassing power of God to help us with our tough situations. Each of those stories stand as a reminder that God is able to take care of anything without breaking a sweat. He is never panicked and will never run out of resources to care for our every need. So follow Daniel and gather up your small group of prayer partners and seek God’s answers for every situation. May you never panic again!

Prayer: Dear Heavenly Father, please help me to always remember that turning to You first is the best choice. Help me to skip the part where I try and solve my own problems and may I seek You in every situation, impossible or not. Increase my trust in You and help me to know You well enough that You are my first thought every time. Because of Jesus I pray. Amen.

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