Daniel 2:14 (ESV)
[14] Then Daniel replied with prudence and
discretion to Arioch, the captain of the king’s guard, who had gone out to
kill the wise men of Babylon.
Daniel 2:17-18 (ESV)
[17] Then Daniel went to his house and made the matter known to
Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, his companions, [18] and told
them to seek mercy from the God of heaven concerning this mystery, so that
Daniel and his companions might not be destroyed with the rest of the wise men
of Babylon.
How should a believer in Jesus Christ respond to a crisis? In Daniel 2
Daniel and his friends were facing execution along with all the king’s wisemen,
enchanters, etc. He responded in two ways. First, “Daniel replied with prudence
and discretion” (Dan 2:14). The word “prudence” is the translation of an
Aramaic word that means prudence, counsel, or discretion. Daniel 2:4 is the
only place in the Bible this word is used. The word “discretion” is the
translation of an Aramaic word that refers to good judgment. Daniel didn’t
panic. He didn’t react. He used good judgment and wisdom in responding.
Too often our first response is to react. I heard someone recently say that if
you react to critics you are not leading, you are following their lead. Panic
causes us to do strange things. It will cause a person just a few feet from
safety to drown. It will cause a person lost in the mountains to cross roads
rather than follow them to safety. Reaction is proper in its place. When we
touch a hot surface we react by jerking our hand away. But reacting to
spiritual danger often leads us in the wrong direction. Daniel didn’t lash out
at the king. He didn’t try and rally the wisemen against the king. He responded
with wisdom and good judgement. He remained a non-anxious presence because he
trusted God.
Daniel’s first response to the crisis was to use wisdom and good judgment.
His second response was to call his friends to prayer. He “told them to seek
mercy from the God of heaven concerning this mystery” (Dan 2:18). Too often
prayer is considered a last resort. A crisis arises and we react. We feel
pressured to respond quickly before it is too late. We call an emergency
meeting and talk the issue to death. When all else fails we ask people to pray.
What if prayer was our first strategy rather than our last strategy? What if,
in the face of a crisis, we called people to prayer and then sought an solution?
In these days of instant communication it is easy to post a Facebook call to
prayer, or start and email chain letter requesting prayer. Before long there
are hundreds, or even thousands praying. I find it interesting that Daniel didn’t
tell his friends, “Run quickly and call everyone you know to prayer.” He simply
asked his three closest friends to pray that God would reveal the mystery. This
may suggest that there is something relational about prayer. It clearly demonstrates
the truth that the effectiveness of prayer is not increased by the sheer
numbers of people praying. The power of prayer is not in the number of people
praying, it is in the God to whom we are praying. Daniel’s faith was not in his
friends or in his friend’s friends. It was in God.
This chapter is about the superiority of God over the gods of this world. Sometimes I wonder if we really believe that. If we did, we wouldn’t panic at every apparent threat. In faith we would seek to respond with wisdom and good judgment. We would seek God’s answer in prayer. We would keep our eyes on the Almighty and remain a non-anxious presence in an anxious world. When panic rises and begins to cloud our judgment, when fear causes us to react, when crises demand a response, may we learn to turn our eyes to God. May we learn to truly trust Him and respond in wisdom, good judgment, and prayer.
Comments
Post a Comment