So…
A few weeks ago, I asked about whether you all have dreams.
All of us do, although most of the time we don’t remember them because they happen during a portion of our sleep that if uninterrupted usually means we won’t remember them.
When we do, they can be pleasant or weird or scary. Sometimes they make some sense, other times no sense at all. A common dream some folks have is a dream of flying. Some dream interpreters suggest it may mean that we feel a need to escape or perhaps need a bird’s eye view of our lives.
Another dream is one where a person is swimming under water and can’t get to the surface. From family experience, I can tell you that you may need to get yourself a sleep machine, because it can be a sign you are holding your breath and could be sleep apnea.
One of my dreams in my teenage years was that of (and this dates me for sure) two “rockem-sockem” robots battling it out with acetylene torches. Just saying. The one psychologist I talked with later on, pointed out that adolescent brains are filled with conflicting feelings and ideas, and it is no surprise that our brain interprets that in pictures as a battle.
Yes, he was a bit concerned about the acetylene torches!
And yes, he still said I could be ordained as a pastor, so there.
So, what if you dream about being a tree? And that tree gets chopped down? Should you be worried?
Well, Nebuchadnezzar had exactly that dream. And Daniel was brought in to tell him what it meant. And Oh boy.
One of the things about the book of Daniel we discover as we read it over time, is that while we often read books sequentially, as if the story flowed chapter by chapter in a short period of time, books like Daniel are often more collections of stories over a long period of time, and the stories are not necessarily in order.
Daniel came to Babylon as a young man, say in his early twenties. At the end of the book of Daniel, he is a man in his 80’s. The stories we read here happened over those many years, and tell of his interactions with many of the kings of Babylon and then Media-Persia. They also record the stories of the Kosher food, and the lion’s den, and the fiery furnace, as well as the dreams of royalty and Daniel’s own dreams.
For us it seems odd to read of about Daniel becoming an adviser to Nebuchadnezzar at one point, and then at another the king having to be reminded that Daniel existed, and in another consulting other magicians and only belatedly remembering he can call Daniel.
While Daniel may have been a trusted official in some capacity in Babylon, he was never ever one of the inner circle group of leaders, like a cabinet member, or a special advisor to the king always at the king’s right hand.
Rather, he was a man of who did his job, worshiped his God, and was called on from time to time to interpret what God was saying to the king, when someone remembered he was there.
And it happened that way in this story. Nebuchadnezzar called for Daniel after it appears forgetting about Daniel, and… Forgetting about Daniel’s God.
Listen to what Nebuchadnezzar says in his own words about his conversation with Daniel: “I said, “Belteshazzar, not only are you the wisest of all advisers and counselors, but the holy gods have given you special powers to solve the most difficult mysteries. So, listen to what I dreamed and tell me what it means….”
By the king’s own admission, he still does not know who Yahweh, the God of Israel, is. He believes Daniel is led by the holy gods, but is not aware of Yahweh, and why he should worship him.
Of course, all that is about to change. And it is a great reminder to those of us who may be riding high, thinking all is well, and may not yet understand who the ultimate ruler of this world is.
Just because you are doing amazing things and appear have it all together, doesn’t mean what you may think it means!
Unless your relationship with God is right, and you are living out a just life, it all may just mean that you are just getting ready for a good grounding!
Keep in mind that being blessed is primarily a spiritual condition, not a material one.
Did you hear that? It’s a tough one for those of us who have grown up in western civilization where we measure ourselves by what we have accumulated. Here it is again… Being blessed is primarily a spiritual condition, not a material one.
You can accumulate all the stuff in the world, be the most powerful, most popular, most admired, the tallest tree in the forest from whom all others benefit, and still be spiritually bankrupt.
And to be sure, God doesn’t care about your stuff. God can make more stuff than you have ever dreamed of in a blink of an eye. It is more difficult for a rich man to enter the kingdom than a camel trying to get through the eye of a needle. Why?
Because what matters is our spiritual condition, our relationship to God, our humility, our acceptance of God’s grace and our actions to pass it on.
Our blessedness is revealed in how we treat others, how we think of ourselves, what we value, and whether we see God at work in us.
Nebuchadnezzar didn’t.
But he would! Next week!
How about you? Amen!
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