What would you do if the writing was on your wall? what would you do if God wrote on the wall of your living room, “Mene: You’ve made a mess of your life. Teqel: You can’t do this by yourself—you’re not enough for this. Peres: I’m taking what’s yours and giving it to someone else”?

Daniel is warning the King. God warns us all the time, always as an attempt to save us from falling. For when we begin to forget God, when we look to the good things that God gives us as substitutes for the Gift Giver—God himself—then we’re teetering towards a fall. God will warn us. God does not want us to crash and deal with all the pain we will endure. Yes, God will still use us and bless us even if we crash and burn. God’s faithfulness and love for us is not conditional. Jesus died for us when we were His enemies, remember? Whether we crash and burn isn’t about how God feels about us—it’s about God desiring that we not go through pain.

There is resistance to your prayers, to your generosity, to keeping Jesus front and center in your life. We have an enemy. His name is Satan. Today’s passage is from Daniel chapter 3 speaks to this truth that God’s people are always hard pressed, always challenged, always threatened with death for the sole purpose that we would stop worshipping God, stop pursuing God, stop doing the small things that make all the difference. My prayer today is that you and I would walk away from this morning with a deeper hunger for Jesus that results in us making even more small choices to pursue Jesus and Jesus alone.

Do you believe God is wise? Do you believe God is good? Most of you are probably saying, “Of course I do.” Could I invite you to examine then, why you get afraid and then act on that fear? Why is prayer the last resort? Why do you still rely on your own wisdom instead of waiting for God? I think if we’re all honest, we could all say that there is a part of our heart that does not trust that God is good or wise. We want God to give us wisdom and knowledge on our timeline and for our purposes. We don’t know what Daniel prayed. Maybe he asked God for an escape plan. Maybe he asked God to deliver him from Babylonian slavery. God asks Daniel to stay put and gives him the wisdom to do so.

The book of Daniel is written, as one other says, “…for those who feel powerless or helpless, under pressure, marginalized, left out; for those who become objects of scorn and ridicule for their faith; for those who suffer an cry out, “How long?” It is for anyone who feels burned out and tired, who wonders if life is passing them by. It is for all who grieve, who do not get out of life what they expect, who are frustrated and angry.” George M. Schwab, Hope in the Midst of a Hostile World, p 13

Jesus is speaking grace to you now. Jesus wants you to come alive. Jesus is Risen! All your sins are forgiven—trust Jesus with your past. All that is needed for your right standing before God has been secured—you don’t have to prove yourself anymore, you can trust Jesus with your present. Jesus wants you to come alive! Come, meet the crucified One, who is now alive, Jesus, risen from the dead.

On the cross, Jesus exchanges places with us. What we deserve because of our sin—judgment and death—that’s what Jesus takes upon himself…for our sake. And what we don’t deserve—forgiveness, mercy, Jesus’ perfect righteousness—that’s what Jesus gives…for our sake. On the cross, there are two substitutions happening—Jesus taking what we deserve and Jesus giving to us what only he deserves.

We’ve all been with Peter at his moment of denying Jesus. It's called shame. We’ve all felt terrible about something we’ve done or something that’s been done to us. We’ve all felt the feeling of shame—that we’re worthless, no good, a lost cause, done for. We’ve all felt that somehow we’ve crossed God’s line of what’s acceptable and unacceptable and because we’ve messed up so royally—we’re now worthless. Some of us have been terribly abused and wounded and betrayed at the hands of other people—and we still feel shame. We feel like we’ve deserved it, that somehow what’s been done to us is because of who we are—that we’re less than, worthless, and meant to be used and mistreated. It’s all shame. We’ve all been where Peter is. We know what this feels like. And in the Gospel, with Jesus, we can overcome shame and experience freedeom in the new identity we have in Christ

We pray, not with what we don’t have, but right where we are—honestly, trusting in our good and wise Heavenly Father. Peter learned to pray from Jesus—for God’s Kingdom comes not by our might or violence—God’s Kingdom comes as we pray, first in our own hearts, then out from us to this weary world.