Thursday, October 22, 2009

Wisdom On Backorder

Daniel was an Israelite slave in training in Babylon nearly 2500 years ago. He had been a well-off teenager of noble birth in the upper class of Jewish society when Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, swept into Israel, defeated them and took their king and many of noble birth back to his capital. Daniel was one of the best and brightest of the Israelite captives and was chosen to be a slave trained for service in the king's palace.

Several months after the defeat of Israel, Nebuchadnezzar had a really bad dream. He called in all of his advisors and magicians to try and make some sense of it, but the dream was so bad that he was not going to take any chances that his people would give him bad info. So instead of just asking them to interpret his dream and tell him what it meant, he commanded that they tell him what he had dreamed first. They freaked out because they knew that it was impossible to read the king's mind and tell him what he had dreamt, and they told him that. Nebuchadnezzar said, "Okay, but if you can't tell me my dream I'm going to have you and every other wise man, magician and advisor killed."

This was bad news for Daniel, because he was in training under the kings advisors and as a result fell under the execution decree...
Daniel 2:14-16 - When Arioch, the commander of the king’s guard, came to kill them, Daniel handled the situation with wisdom and discretion. He asked Arioch, “Why has the king issued such a harsh decree?” So Arioch told him all that had happened. Daniel went at once to see the king and requested more time to tell the king what the dream meant.
Daniel had no way of knowing this situation was coming. If anything, he probably thought that things could not get any worse after being kidnapped, separated from his family and made a slave; but the Bible tells us that when the commander of the king's guard came to kill Daniel, Daniel handled the situation with wisdom and discretion. Why is that such a big deal?
Daniel 2:20-21 - Praise the name of God forever and ever, for he has all wisdom and power. He controls the course of world events; he removes kings and sets up other kings. He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the scholars.
Daniel was not just smarter than everyone else. He wasn't necessarily the most capable guy in the room. In this last verse, Daniel is thanking God for bringing him through this situation, and it shows us one thing that Daniel understood – his wisdom came from God. The discretion and wisdom that literally saved Daniel's life when Arioch came looking for him was not a result of reading a lot of books, studying hard or just having a sharp mind. It was given to him by God because Daniel sought him.

And Daniel had a lifestyle of seeking God. Before there even was a problem, Daniel was seeking God – and not just for help, but because he wanted to know him more. When you habitually seek God, when you spend reading his word and talking to him, you are laying the groundwork for him to work in incredible ways in your future – in situations that you don’t even know are coming but that he does. The time you spend with God today, the prayers you send up now are unleashing God's power to go ahead of you into your future where it will meet you when you need it. When you seek God today, you are making payments on a divine insurance policy that will cover you when times of crisis come.

What is the moral of this story? Seek God. Learn about God. Talk to God. Spend time with God. The secret to Daniel’s success throughout his entire life is that he spent time on his relationship with God first, and it made all the difference for him. It will make all the difference for you too.


Tuesday, October 6, 2009

The Greatest Shirt in the World

My son Calvin has the greatest shirt in the world. How do I know this? He told me...

"Daddy,do you like my shirt," he asked while pulling the red t-shirt with the motorcycle on it out from his chest.

"Sure, it's really cool," I replied. "Do you like it?"

"Yeah. When I wear it, it makes me run really faster. And it makes me pedal really fast too."

I knew two things after our conversation. One: my son is totally and completely awesome. Two: I have to figure out how to invent a shirt that has magical properties. Imagine a shirt that not only makes you run faster, but will help you fit a full work or school day into 60 minutes.

Calvin is a genius.