There is a God, and you’re not him.
That may seem fairly obvious, but a lot of people don’t understand that. Let’s face it, lots of people think the world revolves around them. Not you and me, of course, but lots of other folks think that way. You probably have someone in mind. They want their way, and they want it now. And if they don’t get their way, there will be consequences.
When I was about three years old, my mother and I visited my grandparents in the beautiful town of Hawkinsville, Georgia. In their kitchen, they had a tall, metal freestanding kitchen cabinet. And on top of that cabinet sat my favorite cup. I always drank out of that cup at my grandparents’ house. I wanted my cup, but I was told that I had to wait. I didn’t want to wait. So I started climbing up the shelves on the cabinet to get my cup. The next thing I knew, the entire cabinet fell over on top of me. It was a long drop for a three-year-old. I remember my back hitting the floor, and I remember the weight of the cabinet on top of me, the crashing of dishes breaking, and the frightened shouts of my mom and grandparents. All because I wanted my cup, and I wanted it right then.
It’s normal for a preschooler to think the world revolves around him. Unfortunately, too many people never grow out of that stage.
There’s a story in the Bible about a man who thought that he was the most important person alive. His name was Nebuchadnezzar, and he was the king of Babylon. Nebuchadnezzar was the absolute dictator of the world’s greatest empire. He was the most powerful man on the planet.
One night Nebuchadnezzar has a dream, and it so upsets him that he calls together all of his wise men to come and interpret his dream. Now, these wise men were supposed to be experts at interpreting dreams, so they let Nebuchadnezzar know that they’ll give him the interpretation as soon as he tells them the dream.
The problem for them is that Nebuchadnezzar knows that these guys have no clue; they never have. So he commands them not only to tell him the interpretation but to tell him the dream itself. After all, anyone who can interpret dreams ought to be able to tell him what the dream is, right?
It’s like the newspaper article I read one time about a toll-free psychic hotline that went out of business due to “unforeseen business conditions.” Let that one sink in.
Anyway, these wise men are being put to the test, so they repeat to King Nebuchadnezzar that if he’ll just tell them the dream, they’ll interpret it. So the king says, “Look, you need to tell me the dream. If you can do that, I’ll have some confidence in your interpretation. I mean, you’re supposed to be wise men. But if you can’t tell me the dream, you’ll be ‘torn limb from limb, and your houses shall be laid in ruins’” (Daniel 2:5).
That’s a little pressure. Finally, the wise men admit that they aren’t capable of doing this, and the king gets so angry that he issues orders for all of his wise men to be executed. These orders include a young Jewish boy named Daniel.
Daniel was part of a group of Jews who had been exiled to Babylon, ripped from their homes in Israel, and taken to a foreign country, leaving behind loved ones, homes, culture, their entire way of life.
Daniel, who’s about 17-20 years old at this time, has completed a special three year training period on how to best serve the king, and he and some of his Jewish friends fall under the king’s execution orders. When the king’s men come to get Daniel and his friends, Daniel asks for an audience with Nebuchadnezzar and requests a little more time. He hasn’t received any word from God telling him that he’ll be able to tell the king his dream, but he has complete faith in his God. He knows that God is in control and that his life is in God’s hands.
Notice what happens next.
Then Daniel went to his house and made the matter known to Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, his companions, 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. (Daniel 2:17-18)
Daniel is staring at death square in the face, so he and his friends, better known as Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, get together and pray. These four young men, in their late teens or early twenties, unite in prayer, trusting God to lead them through this difficulty.
It’s important to have godly friends you can trust. Daniel knew he needed to go to God, but he also knew he needed friends. With whom would you pray at a time like this?
That very night, God revealed to Daniel both the dream and its interpretation, and Daniel responds to God in praise.
Daniel answered and said: “Blessed be the name of God forever and ever, to whom belong wisdom and might. He changes times and seasons; he removes kings and sets up kings; he gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding; he reveals deep and hidden things; he knows what is in the darkness, and the light dwells with him. To you, O God of my fathers, I give thanks and praise, for you have given me wisdom and might, and have now made known to me what we asked of you, for you have made known to us the king’s matter.” (Daniel 2:20-23)
Keep in mind that Daniel doesn’t know how this story will end. God has revealed the king’s dream, but nothing else has changed. Daniel and his friends are still under a death sentence. If you study this chapter further, you’ll see that Daniel still has to go stand before the king and tell him that his kingdom will come to an end. At any moment, Nebuchadnezzar can have him executed.
The only thing that Daniel knows is that his God has spoken, and his God is the Creator of all that exists. His God is sovereign over all creation. His God is in control of the political affairs of nations (let that be a reminder to us as we near election day). Daniel doesn’t know what will happen, but regardless of the outcome, he will worship the one true God.
Well, Daniel does tell the king the dream and its meaning, and the king responds by promoting Daniel and giving him incredible gifts. He even promotes Daniel’s three friends to places of leadership in the kingdom. What an incredible story about the power of God and the faith of a young man.
When you put yourself in this story, whose part do you play? I think most of us see ourselves as Daniel, the hero; the kid who stood up to the most powerful man on the planet. The guy who trusted God so much that he asked for an audience with the king before God had revealed the dream. The guy who would have never wavered in his faith even if God chose not to reveal the secret.
The truth is, though, that most of us are probably more like Nebuchadnezzar. We’re going through life acting as if we’re God. We behave as if the world revolves around us. We show it in the way we treat other people. We think others are only here on earth to make us happy. Life owes us happiness. We know what we want, and we’re going to take it. We deserve it.
Look what happens in verses 27-28…
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 2:27)
Did you catch that incredible phrase Daniel used? “But there is a God in heaven.”
There is a God in heaven, and the whole world is in his hands. There is a God in heaven, and he is all-powerful, all-knowing, and he is in all places at all times. There is a God in heaven, and he is so beyond our knowledge and capabilities that it’s silly for even the most powerful man in the world to be proud and self-centered.
The world revolves around God, not around you or me. He deserves all praise and honor, we don’t. He is all-knowing, we aren’t. When we put ourselves in God’s place, we’re like little three-year-olds climbing a cabinet, thinking we deserve to have anything we want.
So be honest with yourself. Who in this story are you most like? Daniel, whose faith during a face-off with death never failed? Or Nebuchadnezzar, who lived as if he was the center of the universe and everyone else was here to serve him?
The next time you act as if you deserve everything you want, the next time you start feeling like everything should revolve around you, remember:
There is a God in heaven, and you’re not him.