The Image, Part 5
All Things Work Together
for Good . . .
The following devotional is the fifth in
a short series focusing on Daniel 2: Nebuchadnezzar's vision
of the great statue of gold, silver, bronze, iron, and clay.
"Then the king . . . made him ruler
over the entire province of Babylon and placed him in
charge of all its wise men. Moreover, at Daniel's request
the king appointed Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego
administrators over the province of Babylon, while Daniel
himself remained at the royal court." (Dan 2:48-49)
Daniel finds himself a captive in a
foreign land, far from home, surrounded by false gods. And to
make matters worse, he is forced to serve a pagan king. If I
had been Daniel, I might have felt--understandably!--a little
bit upset by these happenings. Everything must have seemed so
negative. Not a single bright spot on the horizon. The light
at the end of the tunnel completely obscured.
Yet Daniel doesn't seem to respond this
way. Throughout all records that we have of Daniel, it
appeared that he had ultimate faith in God "that all things
work together for good to them that love God, to them who are
the called according to his purpose." (Rom 8:28)
The story of Daniel 2 illustrates this
point very nicely. To add to all the potential woes of Daniel
(captivity, etc!) he receives a death threat. Arioch, the
commander of the king's guard, has gone out to put to death
ALL of the king's wire men, including Daniel and his three
friends. But Daniel continues to place his trust in God, and
God responds by showing Daniel the dream and its
interpretation in a vision. As a result, the death threat is
lifted, the king acknowledges God as the One True God, and
just to put icing on the cake, Daniel is made ruler "over the
entire province of Babylon", he is placed "in charge over all
its wise men", and at his request, his three friends are
"appointed administrators over the province of Babylon" (Dan.
2:48,49)!
My friends, the next time you are
tempted to feel sorry for yourselves because of the
circumstance you find yourselves in, remember Daniel! Praise
God for your circumstances. Trust Him to work good into bad
situations, then sit back and wait upon the blessing of the
Lord!
Please see the
Thursday edition of The Illustrator for The Image, Part 6.
Love in Christ,
Lyn
Lyn Chaffart,
Moderator, The Nugget, Scriptural Nuggets (
www.sermonillustrator.org/minisermons/ ), Answers2Prayer Ministries,
www.Answers2Prayer.org ,