“Are You Able"

“Are you able to make known to me the dream that I have seen and its interpretation?”  Daniel answered the king and said, “No wise men, enchanters, magicians, or astrologers can show to the king the mystery that the king has asked, but there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries, and he has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will be in the latter days. (Daniel 2:26-28 ESV)

It would have been easy for Daniel to say, “Yes, O’ King, I can interpret your dream,” but Daniel did not. Despite the edict to kill all the “wise men” in Babylon, and not yet having received the meaning of the dream from God, Daniel went to Arioch of Babylon and asked why there was such urgency to kill these men. Scripture tells us, “Then Arioch made the matter known to Daniel.  And Daniel went in and requested the king to appoint him a time, that he might show the interpretation to the king.”(v15-16)

Daniel relied on his faith in God, believing that He would reveal the meaning of the dream to him. Daniel told his companions, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, about the dream, and the four prayed to God for a revelation to be delivered to Daniel. It was.

Nebuchadnezzar asked if Daniel could interpret the dream; he said that he could not. Quite surprising, and it probably shocked Nebuchadnezzar, but Daniel continued to say that only God could interpret the dream, and God had given him the interpretation.If Daniel had chosen to say he could interpret the dream, Nebuchadnezzar would have probably made him a part of his court, rich, and who knows what else. However, Daniel chose to be humble in the face of God's power. It is so easy to take credit for something we did not do when no one else is around.

We see the same thing in John the Baptist's encounter with the priests and Levites. They questioned John the Baptist by the river Jordan, where he was baptizing, as to who he was. “And this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?” He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, “I am not the Christ.” And they asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you the Prophet?” And he answered, “No.” So they said to him, “Who are you? We need to give an answer to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?” He said, “I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’ as the prophet Isaiah said.”(John 1:19-23)

The Baptist kept saying I am not. I am not the Christ, Elijah, a prophet; I am nobody. I am a finger and a voice pointing to the “Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.” (1:29)

Are we not like John the Baptist, fingers pointing a way to the Lord? At least we should be. If you have ever been blessed to see God work in someone's life after giving them the gospel, you know it would be easy to say “I”. I gave him the gospel, I told her about salvation, when in fact, it was God who did everything. It is amazing that God would ever use such flawed people to do His work, but He does, and when we witness it, we really get put in our place.

Far too often, we hear of those who lift themselves on a pedestal claiming “they” have spiritual powers because of their righteousness. Inevitably, they crash and burn. Their ministries are destroyed because of their blasphemies, or they will pay for their false teaching when they stand before God.

Give it all to God. He is the author of everything and wrote the book before anything existed. Be what you are, a finger pointing the way to God. Just “do not focus on the finger, or you will miss all that heavenly glory.”1

Do you know Jesus Christ as your Savior? Seek Him now, come humbly before Him, and ask Him to come into your life. You will find out what that glory is and why.

Grace and Peace.

1 Bruce Lee, Enter the Dragon, Golden Harvest/Warner Bros Studios, 1973