What you may need most when you face your own ‘Daniel moment’
By Dean Collins
Have you experienced a Daniel moment? It is the moment of difficulty when you need an answer and you are fully aware that you have no ability to come up with the solution. Nothing in your training prepared you for what you are facing, yet there you are staring at the challenge and wondering what if anything you can do about it.
Daniel wouldn't have labeled his situation a Daniel moment. I imagine he believed it was simply a crossroads in a series of them where faith and obedience were his best options. Daniel was a part of a larger group that included royalty, nobility, and youths without blemish. Daniel 1 expands on the description of those first taken to Babylon. They were “of good appearance and skillful in all wisdom, endowed with knowledge, understanding learning, and competent to stand in the king’s palace, and to teach them the literature and language of the Chaldeans.”
A special commitment
Thousands of years before this moment there was already a bias toward appearance, manners, fitness, and education when choosing leaders. But we quickly learn that there was something more about four of the group. Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were among the elite but these four young men were also deeply committed to following where God called them. They demonstrated this commitment with their prayer lives that gave them both wisdom and courage in every moment.
These four had the same educational background and appearance as the larger group, yet they rose to the top, not because of their talents, knowledge, or appearance. Their trajectory had everything to do with their surrender to God in prayer and their determination to remain faithful to God regardless of the circumstances even when things became uncomfortably dangerous.
In chapter 1 we learn of these young men’s willingness to request their own diet over what was offered at the training table. We don’t actually know all the reasons why Daniel and his friends found the food offered to them offensive. What we do know is that God gave these four exceptional wisdom and advanced learning as they offered themselves obediently to him and to the service of their captors. King Nebuchadnezzar found them to be 10 times wiser and smarter than their peers.
A disturbing dream
In chapter 2 the king has a disturbing dream. It was the kind of dream that wakes one up and doesn’t let go. Nebuchadnezzar deferred to his historic preferences to find relief. “Then the king commanded that the magicians, the enchanters, the sorcerers, and the Chaldeans be summoned to tell the king his dreams. So they came in and stood before the king.”
But his request was difficult, even unreasonable. He demanded that his advisors tell him the dream and the interpretation. He was apparently smart enough to know that if he divulged the dream details, his advisers could make up whatever they chose as the interpretation. His dream was disturbing enough that he wanted to be sure no one was gaming him with their interpretation. Apparently ancient kings know what we know, our interpretations of situations and events are colored by our biases and preferred ways of interpreting life.
The king was so intent on knowing the dream’s meaning that he became angry and threatened to kill all of his advisors if someone did not come forward with both the dream and the interpretation. Daniel and friends were made aware, because they, too, would face death if no one could meet the king’s demands.
A special prayer
Daniel, upon hearing the king’s demands, chose to step forward, believing that if the king was to be satisfied, only the God of Heaven and earth could provide the insight, wisdom, and revelation needed. Daniel knew that no man including himself could reveal the dream and save the lives of the king’s advisers.
Daniel called Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego and told them to seek God’s mercy in prayer. I’ve read this passage dozens of times and never noticed that the prayers offered by Daniel and his companions were not for wisdom and interpretation but rather for God to provide mercy. We know from scripture that God answered these prayers. Daniel and friends were shown mercy AND Daniel did receive both the dream content along with understanding of its meaning. The result brought glory to the God of Heaven and more responsibility for Daniel.
As my responsibilities have grown over time, I find myself more and more intentional about praying for God’s mercy. I pray it for myself, but I also pray for God’s mercy on everyone on my prayer list.
In this Advent season, praying for mercy seems relevant not only due to the vast array of difficulties we are experiencing worldwide but also because mercy is at the root of God’s gift of Jesus at his birth, at his death, and when he returns in glory. It is because of God’s mercy that we experience his kindness, his forgiveness, his grace, and his love.
Difficult moments
Maybe the secret to facing difficult moments and challenges where we feel helpless and lack wisdom begins when we ask God to be merciful as he considers our requests. His mercy will often include doses of wisdom and courage to face tough moments with grace and mercy for others.
Isaiah the prophet announced the birth of the child whose shoulders would hold all government of God’s creation. His words describe Jesus perfectly. We pray for mercy because Jesus is in fact “Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” He has, will, and will forevermore provide us with mercy, grace, love, and hope in every situation we face.
May you find rest today and in every moment that feels and looks like a “Daniel moment.”
Your time with God’s Word
Daniel 2:17-49; Isaiah 9:6 ESV
Photo by Darius Bashar on Unsplash
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