Daily Devotionals

Stuck Between a Rock and a Hard Place Week 3:Monday

"While Your Majesty was sleeping, you dreamed about coming events. He who reveals secrets has shown you what is going to happen. And it is not because I am wiser than anyone else that I know the secret of your dream, but because God wants you to understand what was in your heart. Daniel 2:29-30

In our world, pride is encouraged, and humility is seen as a weakness. We like to take credit for our good ideas and achievements. It feels good to be praised and recognized. While this is often the way of the world, it is not the way with God. In God’s economy, humility is valued. God calls us to lay down our pride and live humbly instead.

In a moment when most people would have been prideful, Daniel chose humility. In Daniel 2, God revealed to Daniel the meaning behind the dream that Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, had dreamt. This dream had troubled Nebuchadnezzar, and he had been desperate to find someone to interpret his dream. He searched for someone who could interpret his dream, but no one could tell Nebuchadnezzar what his dream meant. Finally, God revealed the meaning of Nebuchadnezzar's dream to Daniel, a young Jewish man who had been captured to serve in Nebuchadnezzar's court. Once receiving the interpretation of Nebuchadnezzar's dream, Daniel went to tell the king about the dream's meaning. He could have taken the credit for understanding this dream, but he did not. Instead, he said, "It is not because I am wiser than anyone else that I know the secret of your dream, but because God wants you to understand what was in your heart" (verse 30). Daniel gave God credit, not him. This was the ultimate model of humility.

Next, Daniel interpreted the king’s dream. He explained that Nebuchadnezzar’s kingdom of Babylon was going to be taken over by another country, another superpower. This dream warned that nothing on earth, including Nebuchadnezzar's kingdom, would last. It was also a warning to Nebuchadnezzar to humble himself. Unfortunately, he did not have the same humility as Daniel and would have to face the consequences of not heeding the warning of this dream.

Daniel and Nebuchadnezzar are polar opposite examples for us. Daniel lived humbly, and Nebuchadnezzar was stuck in his pride. So our question today is, who will we model our lives after? Will we choose pride or follow Daniel's example of humility? I urge you today, friend, to choose humility.

Moving toward action

Memorize Philippians 2:3, a verse that reminds us to live humbly. Let this verse remind you to choose humility instead of pride. Commit to obeying the words in this verse of Scripture, laying down your pride and "thinking of others as better than yourself," and, above all, making much of God.

Going Deeper

Daniel 2:24-49

"Then Daniel went in to see Arioch, whom the king had ordered to execute the wise men of Babylon. Daniel said to him, "Don't kill the wise men. Take me to the king, and I will tell him the meaning of his dream."

25 Arioch quickly took Daniel to the king and said, "I have found one of the captives from Judah who will tell the king the meaning of his dream!"

26 The king said to Daniel (also known as Belteshazzar), "Is this true? Can you tell me what my dream was and what it means?"

27 Daniel replied, "There are no wise men, enchanters, magicians, or fortune-tellers who can reveal the king's secret. 28 But there is a God in heaven who reveals secrets, and he has shown King Nebuchadnezzar what will happen in the future. Now I will tell you your dream and the visions you saw as you lay on your bed.

29 "While Your Majesty was sleeping, you dreamed about coming events. He who reveals secrets has shown you what is going to happen. 30 And it is not because I am wiser than anyone else that I know the secret of your dream, but because God wants you to understand what was in your heart.

31 "In your vision, Your Majesty, you saw standing before you a huge, shining statue of a man. It was a frightening sight. 32 The head of the statue was made of fine gold. Its chest and arms were silver, its belly and thighs were bronze, 33 its legs were iron, and its feet were a combination of iron and baked clay. 34 As you watched, a rock was cut from a mountain, but not by human hands. It struck the feet of iron and clay, smashing them to bits. 35 The whole statue was crushed into small pieces of iron, clay, bronze, silver, and gold. Then the wind blew them away without a trace, like chaff on a threshing floor. But the rock that knocked the statue down became a great mountain that covered the whole earth.

36 "That was the dream. Now we will tell the king what it means. 37 Your Majesty, you are the greatest of kings. The God of heaven has given you sovereignty, power, strength, and honor. 38 He has made you the ruler over all the inhabited world and has put even the wild animals and birds under your control. You are the head of gold.

39 "But after your kingdom comes to an end, another kingdom, inferior to yours, will rise to take your place. After that kingdom has fallen, yet a third kingdom, represented by bronze, will rise to rule the world. 40 Following that kingdom, there will be a fourth one, as strong as iron. That kingdom will smash and crush all previous empires, just as iron smashes and crushes everything it strikes. 41 The feet and toes you saw were a combination of iron and baked clay, showing that this kingdom will be divided. Like iron mixed with clay, it will have some of the strength of iron. 42 But while some parts of it will be as strong as iron, other parts will be as weak as clay. 43 This mixture of iron and clay also shows that these kingdoms will try to strengthen themselves by forming alliances with each other through intermarriage. But they will not hold together, just as iron and clay do not mix.

44 "During the reigns of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed or conquered. It will crush all these kingdoms into nothingness, and it will stand forever. 45 That is the meaning of the rock cut from the mountain, though not by human hands, that crushed to pieces the statue of iron, bronze, clay, silver, and gold. The great God was showing the king what will happen in the future. The dream is true, and its meaning is certain."

46 Then King Nebuchadnezzar threw himself down before Daniel and worshiped him, and he commanded his people to offer sacrifices and burn sweet incense before him. 47 The king said to Daniel, "Truly, your God is the greatest of gods, the Lord over kings, a revealer of mysteries, for you have been able to reveal this secret."

48 Then the king appointed Daniel to a high position and gave him many valuable gifts. He made Daniel ruler over the whole province of Babylon, as well as chief over all his wise men. 49 At Daniel's request, the king appointed Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego to be in charge of all the affairs of the province of Babylon, while Daniel remained in the king's court."