Daily Devotional: God is in Control

Read Daniel 2:20-23

This is one of my favorite prayers in the Bible. Daniel prayed this prayer immediately after God revealed to him the meaning of King Nebuchadnezzar’s dream. How many of us would have immediately run to the king, with a quick Thank you, Lord on the way and shouted to King Nebuchadnezzar, “I got the meaning of that crazy dream you had, O King!”

It’s like the times we accomplish some great athletic feat (even if it’s great only in my own mind). Where do we direct the glory, first? It takes a lot of hard work and dedication to achieve a difficult goal, but the reason any of us is able to accomplish that goal is because God in His generosity and graciousness gave us that ability in the first place.

Take a look at how Daniel first responded to God’s revelation of King Nebuchadnezzar’s dream and its meaning. He stops and praises God, gives Him glory, recounts the great things God has done and can do, and thanks God for the revelation of the dream. Daniel knows that it is God who is in control. God told Daniel the meaning of the dream not because Daniel was such a great guy, but because God is great.

If you choose to read further on in Daniel, you will find that Daniel tells the king no man can do this, but rather, “there is a god in heaven who reveals mysteries (Daniel 2:27).” Throughout the story of Daniel, God demonstrates His control over situations. Because Daniel recognized this, God chose to bless Daniel with wisdom, knowledge and revelations that you and I can read about today. Let’s take Daniel’s example the next time we are blessed to achieve something great.