Daniel's Trust

A Quick Look: Daniel 2: 27 – 28

Really Read It: Daniel 2: 1 – 49

Memorize: Romans 15: 13 May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. NIV

Daniel spent the night with a bunch of hungry lions and God saved him. But that was not the first time that God came down to save Daniel’s life. His sleepover in the lion cage happened when he was a very old man. When he was a very young man, Daniel was taken away from his home in Judah. Soldiers took him to the capital city to work for the king. A lot of young guys would be excited about that and maybe Daniel was, but the bad side of the story is that this king was an enemy king. A king from another country came to fight Daniel’s country. That king won, so he got to be the king of all of the countries that he beat in war. This big king brought all the best young guys from all over his big kingdom to work for him in Babylon. He tested them and gave them jobs. Daniel was so smart (God made him so smart.) that the king made him one of his very own advisors. Daniel’s job was to be smart and help the king with tough choices. Three of Daniel’s friends got the same job. Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego, Daniel and a lot of other guys from every part of the kingdom worked as wise men for the king.

One day the king had a tough job for his wise men. He said, “I had a dream last night, and I know that this dream is a big deal. But I have no idea what the dream means.”

Daniel and his friends were not there. They weren’t on wise man duty that day, but the ones who were there said, “Sure, King, just tell us what you saw in your dream, and then we will tell you all about it.”

The king replied, “If I tell you, you could make up anything and claim you know what it means. I can only be sure that you are not liars and cheaters if you first tell me what I saw in my dream and then tell me what it means. If you can’t, you are all fired. You’re fired and I will turn your houses into rubble heaps. You’re fired, I’ll turn your houses into rubble heaps, and cut you up into little pieces.”

They couldn’t do it. Who could? So the king sent his soldiers to do all of those bad things to them, but not only to them but to ALL of his wise men. That put Daniel on the list to die.

Daniel prayed and his friends prayed and God came down and spoke to Daniel. When Daniel went to the king, the king asked him, “Are you able to tell me what I saw in my dream?”

Daniel knew the dream, but he said, “No one on earth could tell you your dream.” If Daniel stopped there even for four seconds, he might have been killed, but he said, “But there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries.” Then he told the whole dream and what it meant. The king was blown away. He gave Daniel a lot of gifts and a big boss ruling job.

Daniel had to depend on God to keep his body in one piece. Few of you are in that kind of danger, but you must learn to depend on God as if you are. How did Daniel pray when he knew that if God didn’t answer, he was going to die? Have you ever prayed like that? How loud did he pray? How long did he pray? What did his heart look like? What did his mind look like? What did his strength look like?

It is pretty easy to fill in the answers on a Sunday school paper to say that God is your life. It is not too hard to say that you need God. A whispered prayer in church is no challenge. But you NEED God to even live. He gives you breath. He is your only hope, your only way to life. What would it look like if you trusted God like Daniel? How would you sound if you NEEDED God? What would it look like if you really had to depend on God to live?

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Nathan is amazed to see God move in power every week at his church. You can see what is happening: http://www.worldrevivalchurch.com

You can find more of Nathan’s writing on lulu and helium.